Starmer's resignation forces postponement of EU-UK summit

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's sudden resignation Monday has forced the postponement of a planned EU-UK summit scheduled for next month.

European Council President António Costa said at a press conference in Brussels that day that "the need to postpone the summit has arisen" and that a new date is being considered.

Costa also said he hopes Starmer's successor will continue the positive momentum toward resetting relations between the EU and the United Kingdom, just as Starmer had done.

The resignation came one day before the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum. Starmer, Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had been scheduled to hold a second summit in Brussels on July 22 to discuss ways to improve ties between the two sides.

Since taking office in July 2024, Starmer had worked to put Brexit-era tensions behind him and rebuild relations with the EU. He had been pushing to announce agreements at next month's summit on a range of issues, including cooperation on food and animal safety standards, youth mobility, and linking the two sides' emissions trading systems.

Andy Burnham, a member of the House of Commons, is widely seen as the frontrunner to succeed Starmer. If he faces no internal party challengers, he could take office before the originally scheduled summit date of July 22.

Starmer outlined a leadership selection timeline under which the party's National Executive Committee would nominate candidates between July 9 and 16, with a new leader to be confirmed before Parliament reconvenes on Sept. 1.

Both sides appear to have concluded that holding a summit of such significance to the bilateral relationship reset just one week after a new leader takes office would place too great a burden on the incoming prime minister and the EU alike, leading them to opt for postponement.

Burnham is generally regarded as EU-friendly, but he has been cautious about calls for Britain to rejoin the EU — which have grown louder recently — saying he does not want to repeat the bitter debate that divided the country for the past decade, according to AFP.

Meanwhile, a recent poll conducted in Britain by the European Council on Foreign Relations found that 57 percent of respondents said Brexit had been "the wrong decision," and three-quarters said the United Kingdom should have a closer relationship with the EU.