UK and EU Begin Post-Brexit Rapprochement Under New PM

A decade after the British people voted to leave the European Union, the political winds in London are beginning to shift. The British government is not reversing Brexit, but it is slowly abandoning its confrontational pattern of relations with Brussels. Trade, energy, defence, education, and youth mobility are now pushing the two sides closer together again. This shift represents one of the major tasks for the new British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham. Since taking office on Sunday (19/7/2026), Burnham has spoken with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Von der Leyen stated her desire to strengthen the UK-EU partnership for the security of the continent and the prosperity of communities on both sides of the English Channel. Burnham inherited a rapprochement agenda pioneered by the Keir Starmer administration. A high-level UK-EU meeting was originally scheduled for Wednesday (22/7/2026) but was postponed after Starmer announced his resignation. London and Brussels are now preparing a replacement meeting for autumn 2026, although an exact date has yet to be determined, according to several European media reports. The delay has not halted technical negotiations. Before the change in government, UK Minister for EU Relations Nick Thomas-Symonds said discussions on agri-food trade, linking carbon trading schemes, and youth mobility were in a positive position. He noted that closer ties with the EU are increasingly important because the supply chains of the UK and European countries remain deeply interconnected. However, this rapprochement does not mean the UK is rejoining the EU. Burnham has previously stressed that he is not proposing the UK rejoin the bloc. He acknowledged that Brexit has caused damage but argued that reopening the referendum debate would only deepen societal divisions. London’s strategy is therefore to repair the economic and diplomatic damage caused by Brexit without formally reversing the result of the 23 June 2016 referendum. The foundations for this recovery were actually laid during the first high-level UK-EU meeting at Lancaster House in London on 19 May 2025. At that meeting, the two sides agreed on a Security and Defence Partnership, a framework of mutual understanding, and a sectoral negotiating agenda covering food, energy, fisheries, steel, security, and youth exchanges. The agreement was seen as the most significant change in UK-EU relations since Brexit. Reuters at the time described it as the end of a ‘quarrelsome divorce’, particularly against the backdrop of global trade uncertainty and US demands for Europe to take greater responsibility for its own defence. The UK Parliament’s Business and Trade Committee noted that the meeting established a new strategic partnership framework. However, most of the agreements remain political commitments and negotiating agendas, rather than legal agreements that immediately remove post-Brexit barriers. In short, relations have thawed, but the recovery process is far from complete.