UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer went to Paris on Thursday to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron as he looks to give new impetus to French-British relations.
It’s reported Starmer will attend a breakfast meeting with French business leaders followed by a summit with Macron at the Elysee Palace.
Starmer’s trip to Paris came right after his visit to Germany, where he announced plans to draft a treaty intended to deepen collaboration between the two nations in areas such as defence, energy security, science and technology.
The proposed UK-Germany treaty is partly based on London’s recent agreements with France on defence, security, and closer law enforcement cooperation against people-smuggling gangs.
The UK PM said the two countries also plan to draw up a “joint action plan to tackle illegal migration” as his government still faces pressure to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Starmer took office in early July after his Labour party won the general election by a landslide.
Four years after the country left the EU, Starmer said he wanted to rebuild ties strained by years of ill-tempered wrangling over Brexit terms.
“I’m absolutely clear that we do want a reset with Europe, a reset with the EU,” Starmer said in Berlin.
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However, Starmer has made it clear that establishing closer ties with Europe does not mean reversing Brexit.
He also said the UK does not plan to join the EU’s youth mobility scheme, which would give young people in the EU the right to live and work in the UK and vice versa.
