CER's Grant: A European strategy for Labour

27 September 2023

Britain needs a better deal with the EU than that negotiated by Boris Johnson’s government: the economy is taking a hit, opinion polls show that most Britons want a closer relationship and the tense geopolitical situation highlights the value of greater co-operation with the EU.

•  But a significant reset of the relationship must await the arrival of a Labour government.
• Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is cautious about Europe. It worries that if it talks too much or too positively about the EU, those who voted Leave in 2016 will be reminded of their identity as Leavers and vote Conservative.
• It will be hard for a Labour government to make significant improvements to Johnson’s Brexit deal. The UK is not a priority for most European leaders and there is much scepticism about Labour’s willingness and ability to engineer a fundamental change in the UK-EU relationship. In many respects the current Brexit deal suits the EU quite well and a Labour government will need to think carefully about how it can motivate European leaders to reopen Johnson’s deal.
• Starmer and his team could take some useful steps on their own. They need to set out what they want to achieve in terms of a reset with Europe, ideally with some vision about the kind of country the UK aspires to be. Labour leaders need to cultivate relationships with EU governments and the Brussels institutions.
• Within the UK, Labour should re-establish a European secretariat in the Cabinet Office, to co-ordinate the EU policies of the different ministries. A new unit should monitor EU legislation and take a view on which new rules the UK should mimic. Labour should commit to adopting new EU business rules unless there is a reason not to. Such a default position would be good for business and help to reassure the EU that the UK was not intending to undermine its ‘level playing field’.
• Other steps that Labour should take will require the consent of the EU. The Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) is due for review in 2026. Before deciding what it wants to revise, Labour should consult businesses, trade unions and other relevant stakeholders.
• Labour should ask for a mobility chapter, to make it easier for British people to work for short periods in the EU (and vice versa), and for children to go on school trips. Labour should also rejoin the Erasmus student exchange scheme and seek a youth mobility agreement with the EU....
•  more at CER

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