Improving trade ties with the European Union could boost the economy and drive up living standards, Rachel Reeves claimed, as she attended a meeting of EU finance ministers.
She said becoming the first Chancellor to attend a meeting of European counterparts since Brexit was a “milestone moment” as the UK seeks to “reset” its relationship with Brussels.
It is “in our national interest to have more normal trading relations with our nearest neighbours and trading partners”, she said.
Ms Reeves told reporters in Brussels: “Economic growth is not a zero-sum game.
“Countries right across Europe, inside and outside the European Union, including the UK, have struggled with low growth, poor productivity and stagnant living standards these last few years.
“Competitiveness and trade, crucially, are really important for driving productivity and growth.
“And so, as we reset our relations, it is with the purpose of growing our economy and improving living standards for ordinary working people.”
German finance minister Jorg Kukies said it was a “good signal” that the Chancellor was visiting Brussels, but suggested there were limits to what could be achieved within the Government’s red lines of not rejoining the single market or customs union.
He said: “It’s a good signal that there is this dialogue now and that there are these ideas.
“But of course, the new British Government has made commitments to the British electorate and I don’t think it would be appropriate for us to call those into question, because those are part of the electoral platform on which it was elected.”
Asked if he wanted to be as ambitious as possible on lowering trade barriers, Mr Kukies said: “Germany is a very open country to trade, and we’ve seen that the intensity of trade with the United Kingdom has gone down quite substantially, if I measure it against our trade partners in the world.
“We used to do a lot more on relative basis with United Kingdom than we are doing now, and we are very actively looking to diversify our trade partners and to do more in terms of trade.
“So, of course, any progress would be highly welcome, but we completely understand that the UK population has taken a different decision. And we have to respect that.”
Ireland’s Jack Chambers said Ms Reeves’ presence at the meeting of eurozone finance ministers marked the “turning of a new leaf” in UK-EU relations.
He said it was “an important day in terms of wider EU-UK reset of relations”, adding: “I think the fact that, as a starting point, the British Government wants to have such an engagement compared to what was there in the previous number of years, where we had a very different type of language from the British Government, is welcome.”
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith suggested Ms Reeves should look to Donald Trump, rather than the EU, for trade growth.
He said: “If she is interested in growth, she should tell the Prime Minister to jump on a plane to the US and talk to Trump about getting a US-UK trade deal done, not trying to take Britain backwards into the slow-growth EU.”
Daisy Cooper, Liberal Democrat deputy leader and Treasury spokesperson, said: “It’s difficult to understand why they are failing to pursue the UK-EU youth mobility scheme, which would be a good first step, provide a boost to the economy and give young people opportunities to live and work across Europe.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub
