‘We’ll wait for concrete proposals’
EU officials and diplomats, however, told POLITICO that behind the scenes the speech had been received positively in the European capital.
“The mood is positive and commitment to have a good summit is definitely there,” said one EU official, who like others in this article was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “There is a lot of work ongoing to prepare for it.”
Diplomats say that reaction among other EU member countries has also so far been broadly positive — if somewhat wary.
One EU diplomat wondered aloud whether Burnham’s grand about-face would undermine the rationale for the upcoming U.K.-EU summit — which is yet to get a date but which was meant to conclude talks on a number of side-deals begun by Keir Starmer.
“Why bother with difficult negotiations on SPS, emission trading and youth mobility if the U.K. wants a completely new deal?” they said.
A second EU diplomat said the speech had been positively received, but added: “The U.K. will have to decide for itself what it wants. We’ll wait for concrete proposals from London.”