He said greater cooperation on services \u2013 which might include visa-free travel for British people working in the EU, or mutual recognition of qualifications \u2013 was the next big area where the UK hoped to make progress. \u201cI would want a deeper relationship, a more ambitious relationship with the EU,\u201d Falconer told the Guardian.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s also a whole range of areas in relation to services where I\u2019d really like it to be progressed. Services is obviously an area where the EU itself is less closely integrated and there\u2019s a lot of discussion within the EU about where to take the productivity challenge for them \u2013 that\u2019s a challenge we can recognise here in the UK as well. So, particularly on services, I\u2019m really interested in where we can go further.\u201d<\/p>\n
Falconer, the son of the Labour grandee Charlie Falconer<\/a>, is a former Middle East minister and diplomat who has experience as a Foreign Office negotiator. He said he wanted \u201ca sense of renewed pace\u201d in the talks \u2013 though there is still no new summit date in sight. The long-awaited reset summit, which had been proposed for July<\/a>, was postponed after Keir Starmer resigned as prime minister in June.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re committed to our manifesto red lines, but all of my experiences as a negotiator and the art of the possible is in part shaped by the nature of the relationship between two people negotiating,\u201d Falconer said.<\/p>\n \u201cI used to be a negotiator with the Taliban. With the EU, this is a negotiation with our friends, with whom we share our values and with whom we feel solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this summer, EU diplomats expressed concern that the talks under Starmer had lost momentum, with the second annual summit of EU and UK leaders repeatedly delayed as talks stalled over a youth mobility scheme<\/a>.<\/p>\n Falconer, who returned from his honeymoon when he was offered the post of Europe minister<\/a> by Burnham, has spoken already to the EU trade commissioner, Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d, and senior bloc figures hope he will bring a new energy to talks.<\/p>\n Hamish Falconer arriving at 10 Downing Street in July. Photograph: Thomas Krych\/ZUMA Press Wire\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n One said of his predecessor Nick Thomas-Symonds: \u201cI really liked him but the problem was the UK didn\u2019t open up a window, create the political space for a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n They complained that instead of seizing opportunities to get a deal over the line and bank a political win to move on to the next phase, the UK negotiators \u201ckept trying to add things\u201d such as an agreement on services.<\/p>\n A source close to Thomas-Symonds disputed this and said good progress had been made on all areas under discussion in advance of the planned July summit.<\/p>\n It is believed that the next summit may not be held until October to give Falconer time to get across the detail, and for Burnham to flesh out his foreign policy.<\/p>\n Resolving the terms of a youth mobility deal is a key priority, to allow tens of thousands of European and British young people to live and work in each other\u2019s territories.<\/p>\n Talks remained deadlocked due to the UK\u2019s reluctance to allow EU students to pay the lower fees charged to UK students, something opposed by cash-strapped universities.<\/p>\n Falconer said the deal should \u201cwork for both sides\u201d and was mindful of financial pressures on the university sector. \u201cIn my constituency in Lincoln, there\u2019s two universities. I\u2019ve got those issues very much at the forefront of my mind,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is vital that as we go through this, we have real respect on both sides for what some of the constraints are for each of us.\u201d<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter | Every weekday<\/p>\n Sign up to First Edition<\/p>\n Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what\u2019s happening and why it matters<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Falconer said he wanted to apply Burnham\u2019s \u201cMakerfield test\u201d<\/a> to the EU negotiations, ensuring they would deliver tangible change to ordinary people struggling with the cost of living, including in his own very heavily leave-voting constituency.<\/p>\n But he said he would continuously emphasise principles of \u201cEuropean solidarity\u201d, which he said went beyond trade and were backed by shared values, including on defence and security and on how countries could tackle growing dangers such as wildfires caused by the climate crisis.<\/p>\n Starmer and Thomas-Symonds had been due to host the second UK-EU summit on 22 July, with progress already announced<\/a> on a deal easing barriers for food and drink exports expected to come into force before summer 2027.<\/p>\n Though there was a warm relationship between Starmer and the EU\u2019s Ursula von der Leyen, the UK had also faced difficulty in fulfilling some of the promised changes agreed at the last UK-EU summit<\/a>, including an inability to reach agreement on the UK\u2019s entry into the \u20ac150bn Safe fund for defence investment.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782846071_379_1000.jpg\")
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