Will Prime Minister Andy Burnham move the UK closer to Europe?

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has spent his first weeks in Downing Street firmly focused on home turf, unveiling distinctly domestic policies from eradicating rough sleeping to restricting vape and betting stores on England’s high streets.

He has said far less about his vision for the UK’s future relationship with the European Union – leaving officials in Brussels second-guessing his ambitions.

Burnham has previously spoken of leading a “proudly pro-European” government, and expressed hope that the UK would re-join the EU in his lifetime. But his path to power required winning a by-election in a fiercely pro-Brexit Manchester constituency, forcing him to temper his pro-EU rhetoric.

As Matthias Matthijs, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, put it, “Burnham is personally the most pro-European prime minister since Blair but will likely talk about Europe less than (his predecessor) Keir Starmer did”.

But EU diplomats widely expect Burnham to continue with Starmer’s mission to put the UK back “at the heart of Europe” by mending the fraught trading, economic and political ties damaged by years of post-Brexit animosity.

Brussels and London were on the cusp of major agreements – including removing trading barriers on agri-food products and bringing the UK back into the EU’s internal electricity market – when Starmer abruptly announced his intention to resign in June, torpedoing plans to finalise those deals by a July summit, now rescheduled for later this year.

In Brussels, hopes are high that the new Burnham government will swiftly wrap up the deals and continue to deepen ties with Brussels and EU capitals.

One European diplomat said that it “makes sense” for Burnham to seek closer trade and economic cooperation “in today’s world”, and expressed hope that pragmatism would prevail. US President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policy and an increasingly unstable transatlantic relationship have, for many, strengthened the case for closer EU-UK ties.

Minister Hamish Falconer, the man appointed by Burnham as lead EU negotiator, has set a positive tone by floating an even “deeper” and more ambitious relationship with Brussels than under Starmer.

Following a meeting on Monday between Falconer and Ireland’s EU Affairs Minister, Thomas Byrne, a UK official said both sides were determined to hold a summit before the end of the year in order to consolidate the deals and inject renewed pace into the reset.

The Irish government holds the presidency of the EU Council for the rest of the year, and is expected to use its outsized influence over the legislative agenda in Brussels to make tangible progress on the UK reset before 2027.

But despite the optics, the negotiations ahead could still be fraught with difficulty.

Removing trade barriers

For London, removing barriers to trade and economic cooperation is key. Brexit is estimated to have slashed UK exports to the EU by 12% to 16%, dampening productivity and curbing job growth.

Some economic estimates put the cost of Brexit to the UK economy at around 4% to 6% of GDP, a figure often contested by proponents of the UK’s EU exit.

While Burnham has made economic recovery a key pillar of his premiership, his approach has focused more on domestic reform than the international agenda.

“While Starmer and his Chancellor Rachel Reeves saw Brexit as the single biggest barrier to growth that needed to be overcome, Burnham’s project for growth is based on devolution,” Joel Reland, analyst at think tank UK in a Changing Europe, told Euronews. “It’s more about restructuring power within the UK rather than building bridges beyond the UK.”

Despite his focus on internal reform, Burnham may find that some of the ideas driving his domestic agenda – including reviving the UK’s “sovereign capabilities” – are also gaining traction in European capitals, where economic sovereignty and greater national control are back in vogue.

The overlap in economic visions could help the UK secure inclusion in the "Made in Europe" industrial strategy, which aims to force companies to manufacture critical goods within the EU. France had been leading efforts to ensure UK manufacturers were given access to the Macron-championed plan.

“Burnham also seems more comfortable with the red lines in Labour’s 2024 manifesto: he’s not going to push to re-join the Single Market,” Reland also told Euronews, referring to Labour’s commitment not to take the UK back into the EU’s Single Market, Customs Union or free movement.

This could reassure officials in Brussels who want to avoid the UK cherry-picking benefits of privileged EU access without subscribing to all its rules. The Starmer government’s attempt to re-join the Single Market for goods only earlier this year was rebuffed quickly by Brussels.

Deadlock over youth mobility

The reset talks have also focused on a youth mobility deal that would allow young people to move across the Channel to work, live and study.

The UK previously pushed for a cap of under 50,000 on the number of visas to be granted to young Europeans, while Brussels has pushed for significantly more – up to 150,000.

There has also been disagreement over university tuition fees, with the EU pushing for EU students at UK universities to pay the same “home fees” as UK students.

But with UK universities facing serious financial pressure, Burnham’s government will have to navigate the talks carefully to avoid alienating Brussels while protecting its most prized educational institutions.

While Labour figures broadly agree that the youth mobility scheme would bring huge cultural and economic benefits, the prospect of easing visa rules in any way also carries huge political risk, as the British right frames it as a return to “uncontrolled” migration.

After a honeymoon boost for Labour following Burnham’s appointment, the party is tied on top of the polls with Nigel Farage’s far-right Reform UK party, with immigration remaining one of the most politically sensitive issues facing the government.

Reland said Burnham is likely to apply the “Makerfield test” to his approach to the EU reset – ensuring that any new policy benefits people in places like Makerfield, which he believes have been marginalised by Westminster. But with Brussels seeing youth mobility as a key part of the bargain for greater access to its market, Burnham will have to carefully balance his interests. “If he wants a deal done, he has to compromise on youth mobility and think how to sell it,” Reland explained.

Deepening defence cooperation

Defence and security is also likely to shape Burnham’s efforts to reboot relations with Europe – he has spoken of strengthening the “European pillar” of NATO, reviving the E3 format which brings together the UK, France and Germany, as well as breaking down barriers to defence industrial cooperation with European partners.

As one of just two European nuclear powers, and with increasing calls for a protective nuclear umbrella that extends across the continent, the UK could use its military capabilities to gain greater leverage in negotiations with European partners.

Burnham has also linked security cooperation to industrial policy.

Talks on the UK joining the EU’s €150 billion SAFE instrument – which provides low-interest loans for joint military procurement – previously collapsed amid disagreement over the UK’s financial contribution to the scheme.

Reviving the negotiations could provide Burnham with a European focus to the EU reset that also complements his reindustrialisation agenda.

The messaging around European security and defending Ukraine has also remained unchanged, although Burnham is yet to display the leadership Starmer demonstrated alongside French President Emmanuel Macron on international efforts to mediate in major conflicts, from Ukraine to the Middle East.

And with Macron due to leave office in 2027 – and the far-right National Rally ahead in the polls — the future of the Franco-British-led Coalition of the Willing for Ukraine looks more uncertain than ever.