EU-U.K. Summit Postponed Amidst UK Political Transition

The EU-U.K. summit planned for next month will be postponed, the president of the European Council has said.

António Costa said he hoped that Starmer’s successor as prime minister would give “continuity” to the plans to reset the cross-channel relationship.

The meeting was meant to take place on July 22 to conclude talks on an agrifood agreement, an emissions trading deal, and a youth mobility scheme.

The U.K. also wanted to use the meeting as a launchpad to expand talks on taking the U.K. closer into the EU’s economic orbit, with details of any plan expected to be confirmed at the meeting.

Starmer’s successor, widely expected to be Manchester regional mayor Andy Burnham, could take office as soon as July 17 or 18 if there is no leadership race.

The summit date was set only last week when Starmer met Costa at G7 summit in France.

Costa told a press conference at the EU-Moldova summit on Monday: “We have been working very hard and in a very exciting mood to have very briefly our second summit.”

“Now, for sure, we need to postpone it,” Costa added. “But we are reassessing the opportunity of this new summit. But my wish is that his successor could give continuity on this good path to reset our relationship with the United Kingdom.”

Speaking at the same event, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen paid tribute to Keir Starmer, who she said had worked in an environment of “trust.”

“What I'm looking forward to is resuming a strong and stable relationship with the people of the United Kingdom,” she told reporters.

A U.K. official familiar with talks, granted anonymity to speak freely about the negotiations, confirmed to POLITICO that the meeting would be postponed.

“The EU probably feels it is constitutionally tricky for both sides to have a new PM agree to negotiations that have finished a week previous under a different prime minister,” the official said.