Keir Starmer is under pressure to signal that he is open to a European youth mobility scheme as he travels to Brussels for the first time as prime minister.
Starmer will hold his first bilateral meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, at lunchtime on Wednesday.
The one-day trip is an opportunity for Starmer to set out what he wants a more “pragmatic and mature relationship” relationship with the EU to look like.
He is under pressure from Brussels to open discussions on a scheme that would allow young people from the EU to live and work in the UK for a fixed period, and vice versa.
Senior European politicians have made it clear that developing such a scheme is their top priority. EU officials and analysts told the Guardian it had become a “token of good faith” in the relationship.
One EU official said: “The commission mainly wants to see if Starmer is willing to engage on the detail of a youth mobility scheme. If he shows a willingness to do so, that could unlock a lot of other ‘low-hanging fruit’ such as a defence deal.”
Starmer has resisted the proposals so far, telling reporters last week that he had “no plans for a youth mobility scheme”. This and the fact he has yet to have a formal meeting with von der Leyen has stunted the much-anticipated reset in UK-EU relations. The pair spoke on the margins of the UN general assembly in New York.
Anand Menon, the director of the UK in a Changing Europe thinktank, said youth mobility had become a “token of good faith” in the relationship between London and Brussels.
He said: “There is a sense of apprehension that nice talk is all there is, and when it comes to the substance either the Labour party isn’t really willing to do anything or doesn’t know what it wants. A lot of people are looking at this meeting to see if there’s any meat in the sandwich.”
Mujtaba Rahman, the managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group, said: “I’ve been taken aback by how frustrated both sides are actually … There’s a sense on the European side that Labour raised expectations in opposition. They’ve got a stonking majority and yet the government’s rhetoric on Europe seems very unambitious.
“There’s a real sense there is no plan. Senior officials on the European side are asking, what does Labour actually want to do? The suspicion is that the principals in the cabinet – Starmer, Cooper, Reeves, Thomas-Symonds – aren’t aligned.”
A Whitehall source said Labour ministers had “accidentally boxed themselves into this position” where they opposed a youth mobility scheme for fear that it would look like a form of freedom of movement with the EU.
“When they [Labour] were in opposition they were keen not to be seen as undoing Brexit so they ruled out absolutely everything,” the source said. “In reality this only affects a really small proportion of people.”
In an interview last week, Pedro Serrano, the EU’s ambassador to London, suggested young people from Britain could do gap years in the EU an example of how the scheme could work. His remarks were interpreted as a softening in Brussels’ position, because the original proposal envisioned young people spending up to four years in the UK or EU.
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Three EU diplomats said the EU had not taken a final position on the length of stay and that options ranged from three years to multiple “mini stays”.
Starmer and von der Leyen are expected to agree to a work programme aiming for a reset on some of the easier issues by next spring. The UK is pursuing closer cooperation with the EU on defence and security and mutual recognition of professional qualifications.
The prime minister will also meet Charles Michel and Roberta Metsola, the heads of the European Council and the European parliament.
In a statement before the trip, the prime minister said: “The UK is undeniably stronger when it works in lockstep with its closest international partners. This has never been more important – with war, conflict and insecurity all knocking on Europe’s door.”
“We will only be able to tackle these challenges by putting our collective weight behind them, which is why I am so determined to put the Brexit years behind us and establish a more pragmatic and mature relationship with the European Union.”
Sandro Gozi, who is expected to be elected chair of the European parliament’s UK delegation on Thursday, said: “The momentum for positive change created by prime minister Starmer’s election and a new European commission should not be wasted, but this will require boldness and flexibility from the UK government.”
The UK has an existing youth mobility scheme with a dozen countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Korea.