Burnham’s decision to put the prospect of EU membership back on the table has caught attention in Brussels. But any attempt to unpick Brexit could come with conditions and difficult trade-offs.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he will set out “options” for a new relationship with the European Union – including the possibility of Britain rejoining the bloc – arguing that Brexit has done “more harm than good”.
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His government is now expected to flesh out those options ahead of a EU-UK summit in Brussels in November.
“We have to look at what is doable and what would be the pros and cons of each,” Burnham said earlier this week.
In Brussels, Burnham was initially seen as less focused on international issues than his predecessor, Keir Starmer.
But his willingness to raise the prospect of the UK rejoining the EU – despite the political risks in reopening the issue – has raised the stakes in Brussels and shifted expectations for the reset.
“This was a politically bold move,” one EU official said. “It now opens up the possibility of a far more ambitious approach.”
But officials privately acknowledge that much greater clarity is needed over what Britain is actually prepared to pursue, while stressing that the principles established during the hard-fought Brexit negotiations still stand.
“Burnham now needs to clarify what he means,” Sandro Gozi, a leading Member of the European Parliament (MEP) on relations with the UK, told Euronews. “And on our side, we should show openness to engage in a new sort of partnership.”
‘All the way’: Rejoining the EU
Burnham said that the most ambitious option would be to go “all the way” and rejoin the EU, but has also suggested the time is not yet right to re-run the Brexit referendum.
UK officials say Burnham could use the next general election in 2029 to gauge support for the move, making Brexit a major dividing line in the campaign. Recent polling suggests a majority of UK voters would back rejoining the EU if given the choice.
A pledge to rejoin the EU could alienate traditional Labour voters who backed Brexit, pushing some towards the Conservatives or Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, while drawing more pro-European voters to Labour from the Left.
Burnham came into 10 Downing Street earlier this year as Labour sought to curb Reform UK’s sharp rise in the polls. His predecessor, Keir Starmer, had faced criticism for his cautious and often ambiguous approach to Brexit, seeking closer ties with Brussels while ruling out a return to the EU.
Burnham’s pivot has sent a positive signal to Europe at a time when traditionally Eurosceptic parties are polling strongly ahead of major elections next year in countries including France and Italy.
It also comes as the EU accelerates efforts to enlarge eastwards and into the Western Balkans, and looks to negotiate a special ‘associate membership’ for Canada.
But UK re-entry is widely seen as a long-term prospect that would require a clear national mandate. Officials are all too wary that a shift in government could quickly unravel the plans.
In the meantime, Brussels wants London to clarify its shorter-term objectives.
“This will have come as a moral boost for leaders,” Charles Grant, Director at the Centre for European Reform, told Euronews. “But EU officials will be thinking about the work that needs to be done now, and I think many of them will be quite hostile to what the British are saying.”
Halfway House: Single Market or Customs Union
Burnham also floated the prospect of rejoining the EU’s customs union – which would remove internal tariffs on goods – or the Single Market, a much bolder proposal that would restore the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people.
Former Conservative Chancellor George Osborne, who served under David Cameron during the Brexit campaign, recently said that rejoining the customs union would be a “simple” and “straightforward” solution that could restore free trade and bolster the UK’s economic outlook.
But research suggests that most of the decline in UK exports linked to Brexit stems from leaving the Single Market, and that an arrangement to enter the customs union would only undo a fraction of the damage.
Rejoining the Single Market would however carry a greater political cost. The UK would be obliged to reintroduce free movement, accept European Court of Justice (ECJ) jurisdiction and “dynamically” align its rules to EU standards – conditions Brussels considers non-negotiable.
An attempt by Keir Starmer to sidestep those constraints by creating a Single Market just for goods with the EU was quickly struck down by EU officials earlier this year. Starmer had been constrained by the red lines set out in Labour’s 2024 electoral manifesto, which ruled out a return to the single market, customs union or free movement.
Talks between Brussels and London are now expected to proceed with greater freedom. “I’m glad Burnham has swept away the red lines that we saw as obsolete,” MEP Sandro Gozi said.
Sticking with status quo
The final option proposed by Burnham is to maintain the current arrangement. “That's definitely an option, if people think this is the right place to stay,” he said.
Under this scenario, the UK would continue pursuing a series of smaller, sector-specific deals to improve the post-Brexit relationship.
Deals to boost agrifood trade by aligning sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) rules, bring the UK back into the EU’s internal electricity market and grant special visas to young Europeans and Brits under a youth experience scheme were close to completion when Starmer abruptly stepped down in June.
His departure forced both sides to postpone an EU-UK summit planned for the following month.
Burnham has now moved the goalposts by urging the EU not to shut the UK out of its “Made in Europe” public procurement scheme, designed to boost domestic production and shield European companies from unfair competition, notably from China.
He has warned of the risk of “collateral damage” to UK industries unless the EU allows a carve-out that would see UK companies treated as European ones, telling the bloc: “We are not your enemies”.
But European negotiators have tied the request to lower university tuition fees for EU students, EU sources have told Euronews.
Brussels wants tuition fees for European students, which can exceed £30,000 (€35,000) a year, to be cut to the same rate paid by British students, typically £9,790 (€11,500) annually.
It remains unclear whether the two sides can reach a deal in time for the November summit.