Eight years after Britain voted to leave the EU, young Europeans living in London are ready for change.
ADVERTISEMENTEU citizens living in the UK are closely paying attention to their new government’s next moves as freshly elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks to rejuvenate and rebuild relations with Europe.
At a press conference ahead of the unveiling of his full legislative agenda, Starmer emphasised the need for a better post-Brexit arrangement with Brussels than the one brokered first by Theresa May and then Boris Johnson.
«We think we can get a better deal than the botched deal that Boris Johnson brought home,» Starmer stated, «and we will work on that — understanding the work that needs to be done and the nature of the challenge.»
Brexit has posed many challenges over the years, but with Labour now in power, the UK hopes to reset its relationship with Europe.
The key question is whether a new approach will lead to better engagement and improved trade ties and how it will affect the country’s large population of EU citizens.
‘First thing we felt was relief’
In London, most Europeans are young adults, many of whom are hopeful about Starmer’s approach. Many are particularly eager to see the reinstatement of freedom of movement, one of the most important Brexit casualties.
One UK resident, Victoria Croda-Pinto, told Euronews she was “slightly more optimistic» than she would have been with the Tories in power. Ricardo Hyoiti Guiatoko was similarly circumspect: “There are so many pros and cons about it,» he said of Labour’s massive election victory, «but the first thing we felt was relief.”
Elisa Consiglio shared her thoughts on the state of the Anglo-European relationship. “I feel that we are divided in a certain sense,» she explained. «In the past, it was really different because we were all together. And so now, in a certain sense, I feel that it is something apart.”
The outcome of Labour’s plan to strengthen ties with Europe remains uncertain, with much depending on external factors, including the upcoming US presidential election. Only time will tell if these efforts will lead to stronger ties and greater prosperity between the UK and Europe.
Professor Jonathan Portes, a leading expert in UK-EU relations at King’s College London, said it would be some time before the prospects for the future become clear.
“If there are early positive agreements, you could see that generating a political and economic dynamic where there’s pressure on both sides to go further and faster, and you could actually see very real change,» he said.
«At the moment, I think we genuinely don’t know. And it will also depend, frankly, on wider geopolitical pressures and considerations.”
Watch our correspondent’s full report above.
