David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak: all of them spent a large portion of their time in office dealing with questions over the EU, and none of them settled those questions for the long term.
That is why Nick Thomas-Symonds, one of the Prime Minister’s closest allies in politics, is beavering away as Minister for EU Relations – a permanent role, not just one that was time-limited for the summit that took place in London last month. The minister is in constant dialogue with his European counterpart, Maros Sefcovic, over how to implement the deal that was agreed, with great fanfare, by Starmer and Brussels chiefs. He is already thinking about the next summit which will be hosted by the EU next year.
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But there is a problem: the UK Government and the EU administration can’t agree on what the priorities for their next steps should be.
Brussels insiders snicker at the idea that Starmer won any sort of victory with the agreement that e-gates will in principle be open to Britons. The view on the EU side is that this was in fact always possible, as the policy is a matter for individual member states rather than the union as a whole – so for the UK Government to boast about this “concession” is meaningless. In fact, airport queues are likely to get worse not better from the autumn as a new visa waiver system comes into effect.
While the EU is happy to make progress on SPS and tourism, its top priority in the coming months is a rather thornier question: the promised youth mobility scheme that will allow under-30s from Britain and the continent to spend time working on the other side of the Channel.
Another British ask, to make it easier for touring musicians to travel across the continent, will also be tricky. “It’s something we can only do on a political basis,” one Brussels source say. “Basically, we will only make concessions if we get something we want as well.” Starmer must expect to come under renewed pressure to move even closer to the EU, for example by following regulations set by the bloc, if he wants further victories.
That is not Starmer’s view. He has hugged Trump as closely as possible, even when it looks a bit embarrassing – like when he bent down to pick up papers that the President dropped at the G7 summit in Canada this week.
Every step that Britain takes to get closer to the US risks irritating the EU – not to mention Labour MPs, who are distinctly unenthusiastic about buddying up to Trump. Yes, Starmer is friendly with Brussels again, but this is looking like more of a frenemy situation than a budding romance.
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