Keir Starmer has said he discussed his plans to reset relations with France and the EU as a whole during talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
The UK prime minister held talks with Macron at the Elysee Palace after meeting some of Team GB’s Paralympic athletes on Thursday morning.
Starmer said of his meeting with the French president: ‘We discussed the situation in Ukraine, as you would expect, the situation in the Middle East, bilateral issues in terms of trade and defence and security, but also the wider reset that I want in relation to our relations, not just with France, but with the EU in general.
‘They were the topics that we discussed as part of the reset, rebuild and making sure that our number one mission, which is growing the economy, is absolutely central to everything that we do.’
Starmer and Macron were among the audience at the Paralympic Games opening ceremony in the French capital on Wednesday evening.
The prime minister’s visit to Paris follows talks in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a sign of his desire to seek closer relations with key figures in the EU.
On the first leg of his trip, Starmer said he was not ‘reversing Brexit’ as he set out plans for a new treaty with Germany – including ‘deeper links’ in several areas.
He agreed that a deal with Germany would be in place by the end of the year following talks with Scholz and also noted it was a ‘once-in-a-generation’ opportunity.
The two countries also agreed to develop a ‘joint action plan to tackle illegal migration’.
An agreement on youth mobility has been suggested by Brussels and could be a key demand in any negotiations.
That could be seen as a step towards the restoration of free movement and Starmer said he did not have plans for a youth mobility deal, and he had ‘clear red lines’ on the future relationship with the EU.
Germany’s ambassador to the UK has said an agreement with the EU on youth mobility ‘should be in the British interest’.
Miguel Berger told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘There are many misunderstandings about what youth mobility really means.
‘It is not freedom of movement, it has nothing to do with migration.
‘It means that young people, who are really those who have most lost because of Brexit, that they have the possibility to come to the EU, to come to the UK, for a limited amount of time, and then they will leave.
‘So, it’s enhancing the possibilities for young people. That’s what we want. And it’s not only Germany, I can tell you all the 27 in the EU want to enhance that.’
By Christopher McKeon in Paris, David Hughes and Helen Corbett, PA
Press Association: News
source: PA
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