EU still 'traumatised' by Brexit, says bloc's chief diplomat

Kaja Kallas warns scars left by Britain's departure will cast shadow over future negotiations

Andy Burnham will face "difficult" negotiations if he decides to take Britain back into the EU, with many people in the bloc still "traumatised" by Brexit, the EU's foreign policy chief has warned.

The comments came after Wes Streeting, UK defence secretary, said the UK prime minister wanted a "courageous conversation" about Britain's long-term relationship with Europe. Options include applying to rejoin the EU.

But Kaja Kallas, the EU's chief diplomat, suggested the scars left by the bruising debates on Britain's departure following the 2016 Brexit vote would cast a shadow any future negotiations.

"I must also say that there's a lot of traumatised people from Brexit here in the European Union. So these negotiations will be difficult," she said. "But we are not there yet."

Burnham has said he will set out various "options" for Britain's future EU relationship at around the time of a UK/EU summit on November 20, which will include some limited moves to improve relations.

These options could include joining a customs union, rejoining the single market or going "all the way" and rejoining the EU itself.

Burnham, who has said the current post-Brexit relationship is not working for Britain, wants to try to find a national "consensus" with a preferred option expected to feature in Labour's next election manifesto.

Polls suggest that the British public now see Brexit as a bad idea, but support for rejoining the EU falls when voters are reminded it would include free movement, EU budget contributions and possible euro membership.

Streeting said the UK was in the "early stages of that conversation" when asked about the possibility of Britain rejoining the EU during a visit to Brussels on Monday.

He described Burnham as "embarking on what I think is a courageous conversation". However, some of Burnham's cabinet colleagues have sounded less enthusiastic than the prime minister about the idea of rejoining the EU.

The UK and EU are expected to agree at a summit this month to remove barriers to food trade, a youth experience scheme, the linking of emissions trading schemes and greater co-operation in tackling illegal migration.

Burnham will agree in principle to discounted university fees for EU students studying in Britain, while Brussels is expected to signal its willingness to treat the UK as a "trusted partner" when developing its future industrial policy.

Streeting acknowledged tough talks could lie ahead over a long-term relationship. "There are bigger questions about what deeper co-operation would look like: what would the choices involve? What would the trade-offs be?" Streeting said ahead of talks with Kallas.

The defence secretary, who will also travel to Berlin on Monday to meet his German counterpart, used his meetings in Brussels to urge the EU not to use "Made in Europe" legislation to restrict British companies from the bloc's arms-purchase schemes.

"We need to be careful of avoiding . . . self-defeating protectionism," Streeting said of policies linked to increased national defence spending in Europe, which he called "a danger".

The UK, which was excluded from an EU-wide loans-for-weapons scheme, is fearful that broader "Buy European" legislation from the European Commission could hurt its access to EU markets.

"[EU] member states are really benefiting from the co-operation that they have with . . . the UK defence industry," said Kallas. "Looking at the bigger picture, it is really important that [the] UK is part of the bigger EU defence alliances that we have."