Ball in UK's court, says new EU ambassador to London

Jukka Salovaara, 58, has just taken up the post of EU ambassador to the UK and is expected to become a familiar presence in British politics as Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government weighs the country's future relationship with the European Union. Unlike his predecessor Keir Starmer, Burnham has said plainly that the current arrangement isn't working and that every option, including rejoining the EU, should be on the table before Labour's next election manifesto.

Salovaara describes his role as a "facilitator" who tests what each side will and won't accept. He won't sit at the negotiating table himself, but will stay close to it. He calls the UK the EU's foremost partner, adding that past agreements between the two sides have always worked to mutual benefit.

A former permanent secretary at Finland's foreign ministry and former Finnish ambassador to the UN, this is his first posting with the European Commission — though not his first stint in Britain. In 1996, as a young diplomat, he handled European affairs for Finland in London just as Tony Blair was about to take power.

The November summit

Burnham's government will hold its first EU summit in November. Salovaara says decisions on how UK traders might avoid being swept up in EU measures against subsidised Chinese imports won't be made there, since Brussels hasn't finished its own legislative proposals. Still, plenty will be on the table: food standards, linking the UK and EU carbon trading schemes, youth mobility, and security.

He points out that shared food standards would remove the need for border checks — nearly 60% of UK food exports go to the EU, and 70% of UK food imports come from the EU. Talks continue over a youth mobility scheme: the UK has offered 50,000 places a year for 18-to-30-year-olds, while Brussels is pushing for 150,000.

Salovaara stresses that it's now up to the UK to decide what it wants before the EU responds collectively. He acknowledges that such a fundamental shift would normally require strong consensus, but says it's for the UK itself to decide whether that requires another referendum. Beyond full membership or the single market, he notes newer, still undefined options are emerging, such as associate membership, currently being proposed for Canada.