The new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, reaffirmed his desire to bring the United Kingdom closer to the EU and to take advantage of the meeting of the European Political Community, on Thursday in Oxford, to propose greater cooperation in security matters and in combating illegal immigration.

Political scientist Anand Menon confirmed that the change in tone compared to the previous Government "is important and significant", but said that neither Starmer nor Rachel Reeves advocate a "substantively very close relationship".

"They want to be on good terms because they consider that the competition that characterised the relationship during the Conservative government was absurd and counterproductive, but I don't think they want (...) a substantially closer relationship", said the director of the think tank Changing Europe.

For Menon, London will seek improvements, whether in terms of trade or security, "but ambitions will be limited, especially as none of this will change in terms of economic growth, because the Labour Party refused [to join the] customs union or the single market".

"It is difficult to think of any circumstances in which the British Government would consider joining the customs union or single market because negotiating would take longer than a parliamentary term [and] in terms of public opinion, there is not much appetite for a long discussion with the EU", he added.

Professor of European Law at the University of Cambridge, Catherine Barnard, agreed, stressing that significant changes will have to be negotiated outside the Trade and Cooperation Agreement signed after the United Kingdom's departure from the EU.

"With goodwill on both sides and some change on the part of the EU, taking into account 'scars' made by the previous Government, there is room to do things, but we cannot be too optimistic", she warned.

The United Kingdom is the host country for the fourth meeting of the European Political Community (CPE), which is expected to be attended by 45 European leaders, including the Portuguese Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro.

For the first time, NATO, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Council of Europe will be represented at this forum.

The event will take place at Blenheim Palace, opening with a plenary session, followed by three round tables on migration, energy, and connectivity, defending and safeguarding democracy, and concluding with a new plenary session.