Brussels, 25 October 2024
A delegation of Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs will travel to London from 28 to 30 October to discuss how to strengthen the EU-UK partnership with their UK counterparts.
In the first official visit to the United Kingdom by Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee in this parliamentary term, MEPs will discuss with UK government representatives and parliamentarians how to boost EU-UK ties, primarily in the foreign policy and security field. The delegation will meet with Stephen Doughty, Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Emily Thornberry, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the UK House of Commons, Lord Ricketts, Chair of the European Affairs Committee of the UK House of Lords, Andrew Mitchell, Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, and Odile Renaud-Basso, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, among others
In addition to covering the EU-UK partnership, the visit will also be an opportunity for MEPs to discuss issues of global and regional significance, such as Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, and tensions in the Indo-Pacific region.
The delegation is led by the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee David McAllister (EPP, Germany). It will also consist of the following MEPs: Francisco Millán-Mon (EPP, Spain), Željana Zovko (EPP, Croatia), Nacho Sánchez Amor (S&D, Spain), Matthieu Valet (Patriots, France), Adam Bielan (ECR, Poland) and Nathalie Loiseau (Renew Europe, France).
Quote
“The United Kingdom and the European Union are close partners. We share common interests and values, including the promotion of human rights, democracy, the rule of law and a rules-based international order. In times of high geopolitical tensions, we need to work together to strengthen our partnership by building on the progress we have already achieved through the continuous implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, the Windsor Framework and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. This applies in particular to our security and defence collaboration. We rely on the UK government to lay out its ideas for a formalised cooperation in this field as soon as possible. I am confident that our exchanges during this visit to London will provide further clarifications”, said David McAllister ahead of the visit.