The EU and UK will frame their strategic partnership around free trade, multilateralism and support for Ukraine in a clear swipe at Donald Trump’s turbulent early months back in the White House, according to a preparatory document seen by Euractiv.
At a highly-anticipated summit on 19 May, the bloc and its former member will set out a vision for a “strategic partnership” based on the “security, safety and prosperity of all people across the UK and EU,” the draft joint statement reads.
The three-page “geopolitical preamble”, drafted by London and currently with EU countries for amendments, signals a willingness to deepen ties with Europe amid growing pressure on Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, to pivot towards the continent and away from Donald Trump’s US administration.
Starmer has vowed to “reset” the UK’s relationship with the EU and is interested in a deal that could see British defence firms access EU schemes to support rearmament. He has largely rejected suggestions that the UK must choose between closer ties with either the EU or the US, and is seeking new trade arrangements with both.
But draft language that reiterates the two sides’ commitment to “free and open trade” and “international development”, and describes multilateralism as “vital”, would appear to be a rebuke of the Trump administration’s retreat from each of these principles.
Trump’s sweeping tariffs, foreign aid cuts and withdrawal from international bodies such as the World Health Organization have sparked broad criticism from both within Starmer’s Labour party and across the British political spectrum.
The EU and UK will also reaffirm their “support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders,” in direct contradiction with a US-brokered plan to hand Ukraine’s Crimea to Russia.
Cooperation on the use of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine and on illegal migration are also mentioned as priorities for the future relationship.
Another document outlining areas for future talks will also be adopted at the summit, alongside a centrepiece text on a defence and security pact. The EU wants to see the existing Brexit agreements respected by the UK, as well as new deals on fishing rights and youth mobility.
EU ambassadors are due to discuss the draft joint statement on Wednesday.
(om, jp)
