Andy Burnham is being urged to drop Labour’s “obsolete” Brexit red lines by a key EU figure who argues it would allow a much deeper agreement with the bloc, such as the associate membership deal offered to Canada.
The Prime Minister is struggling to make progress in the Brexit reset started under his predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer.
EU sources told The i Paper this week his demands for the UK to be included in Brussels’ protectionist Made In Europe laws, which would favour European manufacturers for public procurement, are all but impossible this year.
But after Burnham refused to rule out committing to rejoin the EU at the next election, the European Parliament’s Brexit chief urged him to drop Labour’s self-imposed negotiating restrictions to secure a much bigger deal with Brussels.
Those restrictions – in Labour’s 2024 manifesto – are no return to the single market, customs union or free movement, which is the right to live, work and study across the EU.
PM should ‘think out of the box’
Burnham has been lobbying hard for the UK to be included in the Made in Europe laws, but Sandro Gozi, an ally of Emmanuel Macron, told The i Paper that the global forces driving UK industry panic about being left out should push the PM and the EU to “think out of the box” on how to deepen ties.
Canada, which has suffered an economic schism with Donald Trump’s US over trade and tariffs, was offered associate EU membership last week, prompting Gozi to tell The i Paper on Wedneday: “I hope that Burnham will want to move along that way [like Canada].
“In my view, the red lines are partially obsolete already. And I think that we hope that Burnham will want to move beyond [them].
“Not now – I understand that now he has to assess the state of the relationship. He wants also to solve some issues such as the issue of Made in Europe.
“But in perspective, I think that we should all think out of the box, and I think that this could be also one thing, one issue to think [about]: whether we are ready to move on beyond the red lines.
“We are in the EU. It is up to the UK.”
Dropping Labour’s red lines would “absolutely” open up associate membership or “something new” to the UK, according to Gozi, who is co-chair of the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly.
It could combine existing deals, such as on security and defence, the coalition of the willing on Ukraine, and the Brexit trade deal, along with the new Brexit reset agreements currently being negotiated by the two sides on food and drink trade, youth mobility and electricity cooperation, alongside an “association agreement”, he added.
“What is happening globally should push us to think out of the box,” Gozi said.
Made in Europe deadlock
It came after Burnham and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York, and signalled the possibility of future deals on Ukraine, migration, artificial intelligence (AI) and security.
The i Paper understands the pair also discussed the Made In Europe deadlock that is threatening to derail the Brexit reset completely, although there were no major negotiating breakthroughs.
Sandro Gozi (Photo by Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images)The meeting was nevertheless described as “very warm” while negotiators were said to be speeding up work towards a UK-EU summit in late November to tie up long-awaited deals on food trade, youth mobility – allowing 18-30 year-olds to work and study in the EU, and electricity cooperation.
However, EU sources made clear that UK calls for the summit to include a deal on Made In Europe would be rebuffed, with anything more than a political fudge practically impossible.
Burnham raised concerns about Made In Europe policies damaging UK industry, saying Britain should be treated as a “trusted partner” of the EU and shielded from protectionist laws, amid particular concerns about impact on the car industry, as he travelled to the UN this week.
But the EU is understood to be angered by suggestions that it should make a concession in this area in return for the UK agreeing to Brussels’ demands to lower university fees for European students in the youth mobility deal.
France ‘not against the UK’
The EU is understood to believe a deal on Made in Europe is impossible before next year because its own member states, some of which support Burnham’s position, need to work out their own compromise and finalise the policy and how it affects the UK first.
“It’s very difficult if you wanted to get a concession to have that as part of a summit that takes place before we even have a policy in place,” an EU source said.
“The transactional approach [in UK briefings], if you want to get all EU 27 member states to agree, I wonder if it’s the best way.”
Gozi also hit out at the suggestion concessions on youth mobility could be traded for Made In Europe access by the UK.
“I don’t think they can be put at the same level,” he said.
“If I was a negotiator on the other side of the Channel [in the UK], I wouldn’t bet on that.”
He also rejected suggestions Macron and France were the biggest obstacle to the UK on Made In Europe.
“The French position is not against the UK,” he said.
“The French position is we want a Made in Europe, an effective Made in Europe, a real Made in Europe. We want the European preference to really work. Then, if this can be combined with compromise with key partners such as UK, but also other partners which are strongly linked to the EU with trade agreements, very good.”
Youth mobility sticking point
EU sources also insist the next reset summit must simply be about getting existing negotiations finalised on food trade, electricity, and youth mobility – including a cut in tuition fees for EU students – done.
It puts the UK under pressure as the EU continues to try and force an agreement on youth mobility, which is politically controversial in Britain due to concerns over migration, without offering more concrete commitments on trade.
The most Burnham can get would be something like a non-binding political declaration, for example, to consider the UK’s position in Made in Europe.
One EU member state source said: “it will have to be a political decision. It will be messy and not a pretty compromise but I’m sure we’ll get there.”
Some believe the reset is at risk of collapsing as the UK could find it impossible to give way on tuition fees and large numbers of youth visas without more in return
Anand Menon, director of the UK In A Changing Europe think-tank said: “The reset is in trouble I fear. There are still real differences over youth mobility to be resolved.
“Made in Europe is potentially far more damaging than the putative gains from, say, an SPS [food trade] deal. And politically problematic too given Burnham’s promises on reindustrialisation,” he said.
“The EU thinks SPS is a big concession. We haven’t implemented full checks on their [food] exports to us, and proportionally we matter less to them than they do to us.”
The UK Government is understood to be reluctant to provide a running commentary on EU negotiations.
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