GovWire

Many thanks, Paul, and many thanks to the EU-UK Forum for organising this conference.

And, of course, for the invitation for me to come along to speak.

I suppose I should also say a big thank you to the Prime Minister for the warm-up act last night.

Its a real pleasure to share a stage with my EU counterpart Maros Sefcovic.

Even though, of course, Maros joined us virtually, our mutual goal of reaching a better UK EU relationship is very real.

And today, I want to explain why that is so important

what it could mean for the UK and for Europe

and what I believe the defining structure of that relationship could look like.

It is obvious to me as I am sure it is to all of you that at a time of such intense global change, the UK and the EU have many mutually aligned interests and challenges.

We want increased prosperity

we want to strengthen our security

and we want our citizens to be safe.

Those joint challenges that we face were powerfully set out by our UK Chancellor, Rachel Reeves

and, indeed, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen just last week.

In her growth speech, my Friend the Chancellor didnt shy away from the economic challenges that we are confronting. She said:

Growth will not come without a fight. Without a government willing to take the right decisions now to change our countrys future for the better.

But for too long, that potential has been held back.

On the same day, the President von der Leyen presented the Competitiveness Compass saying that, and I quote:

Europe has everything it needs to succeed. But, at the same time, we must fix our weaknesses to regain competitiveness.

The Competitive Compass sets out the importance of trade openness, not only for sustaining Europes prosperity, but also for enhancing its resilience.

We know that low growth is not the destiny for our economies.

Research and innovation

reducing red tape

a new skills agenda

boosting productivity

a more resilient economy

all these elements found in the Compass are also crucial parts of the Prime MinistersPlan for Change.

These are areas of mutual interest to both of our economies

It is also clear about the vital interconnection between security and prosperity

that is why the work we are all engaged in - that Maro and I are driving forward - is so vital.

In the UK and indeed in Brussels - we are clear-eyed about the scale of challenges that we face - and the opportunities for growth and innovation.

TheEuropean Union is the UKs biggest trading partner, with trade totalling in 2023 over 800bn.

Many of our best education and science facilities have lifelong links

and our collaboration on research and development has been the springboard for hugely successful innovations that have driven growth and jobs.

And in a more uncertain world, we are regularly reminded that allies are more secure together than they are apart.

This Governments position is simple: the UK and the EU are linked through trade and international organisations like NATO

and even though we voted to leave the EU, our role as key allies and trade partner remains.

We know that for these relationships to flourish, trust is a vital ingredient.

This Government recognises that the UKs signature means something.

So, we are committed to implementing the Trade and Co-operation Agreement and the Windsor Framework and building on that structure to address emerging challenges and opportunities.

Now, I want to say - straightforwardly - that we see real opportunities to improve the status quo.

AsBusinesseurope set out in their report this Autumn:

There remain many unnecessary barriers to trade and investment. Following the elections of new governments in the EU and UK, there is a clear opportunity to upgrade the relationship to deliver for businesses and citizens.

I agree with them.

A study published last year showed that between 2021 and 2023, the goods EU businesses export to the UK were down by 32%

while UK goods exports to the EU were down by 27%.

That is not good for British business or European businesses

especially at a time when our economies need a kickstart.

Reducing trade barriers is of mutual benefit to the UK and the EU.

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It was vital that we re-joined Horizon

we should never have left in the first place

but the gap in continuity and other challenges means we havent together achieved as much as we could have done.

Its especially bad when global competition for innovation has never been fiercer.

When the UK should have been working more closely with international law enforcement on security

we frankly wasted years undermining the role of the ECHR, in pursuit of a doomed Rwanda deportation scheme.

We cannot continue in this way with one of our largest, most important partners

that is why this Government will always work in the UKs national interest

and for me, that means being a ruthlessly pragmatic negotiator.

That means making the case for closer working with our allies in the EU, to make people across the UK and the EU safer, more secure and more prosperous

that means making sure that we are working to strengthen cooperation, moving away from a zero sum, win, lose dynamic we have seen in recent years

and that is the spirit I take into discussions with the EU.

The UK and the EU have many mutually beneficial interests

I want to build on these as we work to reset our relationship

to help construct a more secure, a safer and a more prosperous UK and EU.

Now this British Government was elected on a mandate

to strengthen national security by reconnecting with our allies

to increase peoples safety through strong borders

and increase prosperity through growth.

Our European friends are a part of every single one of those priorities

and I believe itsthesepriorities that form the three pillars of a reset in our relationship.

On security you saw yesterday how seriously were taking this.

Our Prime Minister met with all 27 of the EU leaders and the Secretary General of NATO

discussing the common threats we face

and the value that closer EU-UK cooperation on defence could bring

whether its securing undersea cables or working together on research and development.

On safety - I am clear that if we want to protect our respective borders and keep our citizens safe, then we need to work together.

That is the only way were going to break up the vile global trade in human trafficking

thats the only way to tackle organised crime and terrorism, which plagues us all.

And on prosperity if we want to grow our economies

and boost our living standards

then we need to reduce barriers to UK and EU trade.

And I am pleased to say that that on all three of these issues we are making progress.

On security, the Prime Minister and the President of the European Council have made clear they wanted closer cooperation on security and defence

and the EU High Representative and the Foreign Secretary have already agreed to new six-monthly Foreign Policy dialogues

On safety, we have already increased the UKs presence at Europol

but I want us to go further.

We need to find to find ways to better coordinate law enforcement so that we can smashthe gangsbehind the small boats.

To make people safer, we must do all we can to strengthen our collective ability to tackle organised crime and work together on illegal migration.

Afterall, these are shared challenges.

And on prosperity, wehave said we will seek to negotiate a Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement to remove barriers to trade

and find ways to resolve issues like the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications.

We can go much further on energy and the green transition.

Our Governments commitment is to Make Britain a Clean Energy superpower by 2030

and together, we need to deliver energy security so that we are never again left exposed as we were when Russia - illegally - invaded Ukraine.

These challenges all span borders and we must work together to seize opportunities that lie ahead.

All of this work is supported by much greater cooperation between the UK Government and the EU.

Right from the very top with the Prime Minister meeting with President von der Leyen and Council President Costa

agreeing to a leader-level summit that will be held in May, where we hope we can deliver a balanced, yet ambitious outcome to benefit all of our citizens.

Just before Christmas, our Chancellor attended a meeting of the EU finance ministers

the first time a British Chancellor has been invited to the Eurogroup since Brexit.

These meetings form only some of the nearly 70 direct engagements

between UK Ministers and our EU counterparts since coming into Government

and I look forward to many more ahead.

And I say to you all: I look forward to working with you throughout this year andinto the future.

But ladies and gentlemen - the time for ideologically-driven division is over

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