Starmer and Von der Leyen will meet next week in Brussels to “reset” relations

September 26 () –

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet in Brussels next week to “reset” relations after Brexit, the two announced after a meeting in New York.

“I want to reset our relationship with the European Union and make Brexit work for the British people,” Starmer said on his account on the social network X, where he expressed his desire to “start discussions” with Von der Leyen to that end.

For her part, Von der Leyen expressed her satisfaction with her meeting with Starmer on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and also expressed her desire to receive him in Brussels to “discuss the restart of relations between the EU and the United Kingdom.”

The meeting will be Starmer’s first formal meeting with Von der Leyen since taking office as British prime minister on July 5, although he has already met with several European leaders in recent months to try to redefine London’s relations with the bloc, which it left more than four years ago.

The meeting will also take place nearly two weeks after the high-level meeting in Brussels to try to close the pact that will regulate Gibraltar’s future relationship with the EU after the departure of the United Kingdom ended without an agreement, so the matter remains pending resolution.

The ongoing negotiations are based on the so-called New Year’s Eve Agreement, concluded by Spain and the United Kingdom on December 31, 2020, which provides, among other things, for the abolition of the Fence and the de facto entry of the Rock into the Schengen area.

To this end, border controls must be moved to the port and the airport, and given Gibraltar’s refusal to allow a Spanish police presence, it is envisaged that the European Border Agency (Frontex) will carry them out for an initial period.

The different taxes that apply to both sides of the border, and which make Gibraltar a kind of tax haven, have also been one of the main points of friction, as has the use of the airport and the military base.