Keir Starmer meets with EU leaders (Image: AP)
Keir Starmer provoked further anger over his plans to unpick by agreeing to hold a UK-EU summit in Britain.
Downing Street confirmed the event will take place in May despite widespread dismay that the Prime Minister is being too cosy with Europe.
The Labour leader has repeatedly vowed to “reset” relations with Brussels since he entered No 10.
Sir Keir met with EU leaders over dinner on Monday night when he became the first British PM to attend a European Council since Britain left the EU five years ago.
But warned that while the UK could be “friendly” with the EU, it is a bad idea to start tying us up with Brussels again.
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“You can have negotiations, you can be friendly, you can do all those things,” he told the .
“But if we start to tie ourselves to industrial collaboration, as appears was agreed last night, then we find ourselves with less flexibility in doing deals with countries like America.”
The have accused Sir Keir of “kowtowing” to the EU and said the Prime Minister should focus on seeking better relations with instead.
It comes as Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said improving the UK-EU trade deal could kick-start ailing economies across the Continent.
Mr Thomas-Symonds, the minister responsible for leading Sir Keir’s efforts to forge closer relations with the EU, promised a “ruthlessly pragmatic” approach to boosting trade, defence and border security co-operation.
Speaking at the EU-UK Forum in Brussels, Mr Thomas-Symonds said: “At a time of such intense global change, the UK and the EU have many mutually aligned interests and challenges.”
Downing Street confirmed a full UK-EU summit is planned for May 19.
The Prime Minister will host European Council president Antonio Costa and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen for the meeting in the UK, which is the first in a planned series of annual summits.
Mr Thomas-Symonds promised a relationship built on trust, rather than “ideologically-driven division”.
Keir Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen (Image: Getty Images)
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EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic, who is leading the reset talks for Brussels, will meet Mr Thomas-Symonds on Wednesday.
The EU has pushed for a new youth mobility scheme, allowing under-30s from EU countries to live, work and study in the UK and vice versa.
But this has been publicly resisted by the Government, which is wary of anything that could be seen as allowing the return of free movement.
Sir Keir’s red lines in the negotiations include not rejoining the single market – which would require free movement of people – or the EU’s customs union.
Sir Keir met his Danish counterpart for a working dinner in Downing Street last night (Tue).
The PM and Mette Frederiksen discussed European security as well as the issue of migration at the meeting.
But the dinner comes amid a diplomatic row between Denmark and the US over ’s claims that he wants to acquire Greenland.
Ms Frederiksen has insisted the autonomous Danish territory is not for sale, but the US president has repeatedly expressed an interest in taking control of the island.
Downing Street said the Prime Minister is not seeking to become a go-between for Denmark and the US over the issue.
Asked if Sir was “keen to become an interlocutor”, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “No.”
He added: “Denmark is an important Joint Expeditionary Force member, a vital partner on migration and a key Nato ally, so expect the bilateral to cover a range of issues focused on defence and migration and European security.”
Asked whether the UK would “stand in solidarity” with Denmark if its territorial integrity was threatened, the spokesman said he would “not get into hypotheticals” or “offer a running commentary on these issues”.
He had said the previous day that the UK’s long-standing position on Denmark and Greenland is “well understood”.