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Starmer meets Macron as he continues push for closer relationship with EU

Sir Keir Starmer visited the Elysee Palace for talks with the French president.

Christopher McKeon
Thursday 29 August 2024 10:47 BST
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (right) is greeted by Emmanuel Macron, President of France, as he arrives at the Elysee presidential palace for a meeting in Paris (Justin Tallis/PA)
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (right) is greeted by Emmanuel Macron, President of France, as he arrives at the Elysee presidential palace for a meeting in Paris (Justin Tallis/PA) (PA Wire)

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Sir Keir Starmer has met French President Emmanuel Macron for talks in Paris as he continues his plan to reset relations with the European Union.

The Prime Minister met some of Team GBā€™s Paralympic athletes on Thursday morning before the talks with Mr Macron at the Elysee Palace.

Sir Keir and Mr Macron were among the audience at the Paralympic Games opening ceremony in the French capital on Wednesday evening.

Sir Keirā€™s visit to Paris follows talks in Berlin with German counterpart Olaf Scholz in a sign of the Prime Ministerā€™s desire to seek closer relations with key figures in the EU.

On the first leg of his trip, Sir Keir said he was not ā€œreversing Brexitā€ as he set out plans for a new treaty with Germany ā€“ including ā€œdeeper linksā€ in several areas.

He agreed that a deal with Germany would be in place by the end of the year following talks with counterpart Olaf Scholz and also noted it was a ā€œonce-in-a-generationā€ opportunity.

The two countries also agreed to develop a ā€œjoint action plan to tackle illegal migrationā€.

An agreement on youth mobility has been suggested by Brussels and could be a key demand in any negotiations.

That could be seen as a step towards the restoration of free movement and Sir Keir said he did not have plans for a youth mobility deal, and he had ā€œclear red linesā€ on the future relationship with the EU.

Germanyā€™s ambassador to the UK has said an agreement with the European Union onĀ youthĀ mobilityĀ ā€œshould be in the British interestā€.

Miguel Berger told BBC Radio 4ā€™s Today Programme: ā€œThere are many misunderstandings about whatĀ youthĀ mobilityĀ really means. It is not freedom of movement, it has nothing to do with migration.

ā€œIt means that young people, who are really those who have most lost because of Brexit, that they have the possibility to come to the European Union, to come to the United Kingdom, for a limited amount of time, and then they will leave.

ā€œSo, itā€™s enhancing the possibilities for young people. Thatā€™s what we want. And itā€™s not only Germany, I can tell you all the 27 in the European Union want to enhance that.ā€

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