France's Macron hosts Starmer as UK seeks to reset Europe ties

FRANCE 24 English

Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00A handshake and a hug to mark a reset in UK-EU relations.

00:06The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is following up on his trip to Berlin on Wednesday

00:10with one to Paris.

00:12Britain's new centre-left government wants to relaunch post-Brexit ties with Europe.

00:17So we discussed the situation in Ukraine, as you would expect, the situation in the

00:22Middle East, bilateral issues in terms of trade and defence and security, but also the

00:28wider reset that I want in relation to our relations, not just with France, but with

00:34the EU in general.

00:36Starmer in Berlin on Wednesday for talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and has plans for a

00:41treaty by the end of the year aimed at deepening bilateral trade, defence and other ties.

00:47This treaty is part of a wider reset.

00:52The proposed UK-Germany treaty is modelled in part on agreements Britain already has

00:57with France on defence, security and closer law enforcement cooperation against people-smuggling

01:02gangs.

01:05On one major issue, the move further to the right in politics in parts of Europe, Starmer

01:10wants Europe's progressive political parties to discuss and work together.

01:15I am worried about the far right, I'm worried about populism and nationalism and the politics

01:20of the easy answer, the snake oil, if you like.

01:24And I think it's very important that we have a debate about how we confront that.

01:29Reaching a new level of cooperation with the EU as a whole may be more elusive than forging

01:33bilateral agreements.

01:35Both Scholz and Macron, for example, are in weaker positions.

01:39The German Chancellor heads a shaky three-party coalition set for challenging regional elections

01:44next month and unlikely to survive next year's national vote.

01:47And Macron is struggling to come up with a candidate for Prime Minister after a snap

01:51election in July produced a hopelessly hung parliament in France.

Category

Transcript

Recommended