Burnham urges 'bolder' approach to UK-EU relations ahead of summit

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has told European Council President Antonio Costa that London must be more ambitious in strengthening its relationship with the European Union, according to a statement from his office on Monday.

The two leaders met late on Sunday as Burnham travelled to Kyiv for his first visit to Ukraine since taking office. He was there to co-chair a meeting of the 'Coalition of the Willing', a group of nations supporting Ukraine.

A Downing Street spokesperson said Burnham emphasised that Britain 'had to be bolder in terms of getting closer to the bloc'. He argued that the close defence and security ties already established between the UK and European allies should serve as a foundation for broader collaboration.

'That included building on the close defence and security ties already forged between the UK and European allies to drive greater cooperation across all areas of the relationship,' the spokesperson said.

Since the Labour government was elected in 2024, Britain has sought to improve its trading relationship with the EU. However, progress has been slow, with frustrations on both sides over what the former member state should expect outside the bloc's main institutions.

Burnham and Costa agreed that the UK-EU summit scheduled for later this year would provide a good platform to continue this work.

During the journey, Burnham also met Luxembourg's Prime Minister, Luc Frieden. Their discussion focused on different mechanisms for increasing defence spending, including the Canada-backed Defence, Security and Resilience Bank and the Multilateral Defence Mechanism launched by Britain, the Netherlands, Finland and Poland. Downing Street said the two leaders discussed how these schemes could complement each other.