The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Andy Burnham, reiterated this Thursday his commitment to a "deeper cooperation" between the United Kingdom and Europe, highlighting the bilateral summit scheduled for the end of November with the European Union as the key occasion to "bring" London closer to the continent again.
During a joint appearance with the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, as part of his official visit to Berlin, the British 'premier' emphasized that he is "very committed to achieving deeper cooperation" with the community bloc, stressing that this summit will serve to concretely explore ways to strengthen ties.
"We will see if we can bring the United Kingdom closer to Europe, especially for the sake of economic growth and collaboration to address irregular migration," he indicated, referring to some of the priority areas for coordination with Brussels.
For his part, Merz praised the United Kingdom's shift towards greater understanding with European partners after the "regrettable" decision to leave the EU.
Burnham has been preparing a structured approach to the EU for several weeks after acknowledging that Brexit has had negative effects and that London will need to define a new relationship with the continent. "We need to regain a higher level of growth and prosperity for the United Kingdom," he argued at the Labour Party conference, emphasizing that the summit with the EU will be the forum in which he will present different scenarios regarding "the long-term relationship" with European partners.
"There are different options, and I will see if we can find a consensus around one of them. This could bring clarity," he pointed out, to later state that among the scenarios, "going all the way" is not ruled out, words that were interpreted as a possible return of London to the European bloc.