King's College London

Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, the UK Minister for the Constitution and European Union Relations, told an audience at King’s College London that a reset in relations was needed, with a more pragmatic approach based on “facts, not ideology,” involving limited regulatory alignment to ease trade, greater co-operation on energy and carbon markets, and renewed collaboration on cross-border security.

The minister said “reality did not play much of a part in the 2016 referendum” and that both politicians and the public were unprepared for the practical challenges that followed. He criticised the existing UK/EUtrade deal as “the only one in history that made trade harder,” pointing to the decline in exports and the bureaucratic costs faced by British businesses.

Mr Thomas-Symonds was delivering the keynote speech during the inaugural Europe Week series hosted at King’s by the Jean Monnet Centre for Next Generation UK-EU Relations.

He began the address by congratulating King’s on the creation of the centre and reflected on the legacy of Jean Monnet, whose perseverance and pragmatic vision for European co-operation he presented as a model for the challenges facing Europe today. Monnet’s belief in patience and long-term thinking, he said, should guide how we approach crises that demand both urgent and strategic action.

Mr Thomas-Symonds argued that the UK and Europe share the same core challenges, sluggish economic growth, the cost-of-living crisis, migration pressures, and rising security threats, and that these issues “do not recognise borders”. He stressed that the war in Ukraine had made Europe’s collective defence more vital than ever, highlighting the UK’s active role in NATO missions and support for Ukraine’s resistance against Russian aggression.

He also emphasised the importance of rebuilding opportunities for young people, through study, work, and cultural exchange, to strengthen ties between the UK and Europe’s next generation.

After the minister’s speech, a panel chaired by Professor Anand Menon, of King’s College London, reflected on his remarks. Prof Menon was joined on the panel by Joël Reland and Jannike Wachowiak (UK in a Changing Europe), and Peter Foster (Financial Times).They discussed the contrast between the minister’s ambitious tone and the government’s more cautious, incremental policy steps. While all agreed that the call for pragmatism marked a welcome shift in tone, they noted the political difficulty of pursuing deeper UK-EU co-operation without reopening divisions at home. The event as a whole captured both the optimism and the complexity of redefining the UK’s role in Europe in a post-Brexit era.