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EU insiders have warned that with Britain no longer a priority, Labour may struggle to hammer out a more ambitious deal for closer ties with the EU after Brexit.
Sir Keir Starmer harshly criticised the current arrangements as “not good enough”, while Rachel Reeves promised to push for “bespoke” deals on specific issues to soften the economic impact of Brexit.
But European Commission sources have warned Labour that any changes must fit within the existing legal framework agreed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak over the past few years.
Brussels is currently in political turmoil following European Parliament elections that saw support for the far right grow, it is still not certain who the EU’s two top officials will be, and the leaders of France and Germany have been weakened by the election results.
Speaking at an election event in Southampton on Monday, Sir Keir said: “We’ve decided to leave the EU and we’re not going to rejoin it, but I think the deal we’ve got is a failure and it’s not good enough and I think a lot of businesses will say, ‘we need something better for us’.”
“What do you think would happen if we made the deal harder? From our perspective, that’s not very successful. We think we can get a better deal. Of course, it would have to be negotiated.”
His comments came after shadow chancellor Reeves said the UK was ready to align regulations in key areas with the EU to strengthen trading ties. Financial Times“I don’t think anyone voted Leave because they were unhappy that chemical regulations were the same across Europe.”
She also pointed to mutual recognition of professional qualifications as a move Labour will pursue.
But senior EU officials have warned there is little appetite in Brussels to rewrite the Withdrawal Agreement and Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), which Mr Johnson signed and which Mr Sunak tweaked last year under the Windsor Agreement.
One source praised Labour’s “ambition”, but added: “There’s not really a team following every single announcement during the campaign. Most people in Brussels probably won’t even be aware of Rachel Reeves’ latest announcement. It’s not their top priority at the moment.”
The source warned: “The EU is a legal construct which operates within a legal space, so there is currently a legal space based on the two main agreements, the Withdrawal Agreement and the TCA, and that is the legal space within which the current relationship operates.”
The Irish government, emboldened by the support of other EU member states after the 2016 Brexit referendum, is thought to be concerned that the issue is now no longer a priority for allies.
A senior official in Dublin said: “What’s important to us is to keep the whole of the EU on our side. For everyone in Europe except Ireland and the UK, Brexit is now ancient history.”
Labour has pledged not to return Britain to the European single market or customs union, and not to allow freedom of movement between Britain and the EU.
The party has yet to take a clear stance on whether it would consider allowing the European Court of Justice to oversight of any post-Brexit deals, which some in Brussels say is key to forging a closer relationship.
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