James Cleverly has warned the UK and EU must not return to the fractious days of Brexit talks where politicians raced “to the cameras or social media” to argue why they were right.
The Foreign Secretary warned about a tendency to slip into a different tone “when you have a frictional relationship” as he looked ahead to better relations with the bloc.
He said he felt the relationship is “in a good place” as he addressed EU parliamentarians in Brussels.
Mr Cleverly hailed the "close and friendly" co-operation between London and Brussels, adding that the "level of trust" between him and European Commission diplomat Maros Sefcovic was part of the reason the Windsor Framework was secured.
He accepted that it had taken "slightly longer" than many would have liked to reach the agreement but added: "We have to recognise that we will not agree on everything, but in mature relationships we can deal with differences while making the most of areas where we agree.
"We have seen real progress and I am committed to maintaining that positive trajectory."
Mr Cleverly celebrated having moved away from old habits, as he said: “There was a point in time after UK-EU negotiations where there was a kind of a race to get to the cameras or the social media to explain why your position was the reasonable one and the other side of the negotiating table was being deeply unreasonable.
“We slipped out of that habit and we got into the habit of seeking resolution rather than justification for difference.”
The speech to the UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly, a body created as part of the post-Brexit trade deal, comes as Rishi Sunak's Government seeks better relations with the bloc.
It comes as Labour's Shadow Foreign secretary David Lammy is expected to be in Paris for meetings with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, as well as Transport Minister Clement Beaune.
It is understood that Mr Lammy is keen for discussions on his party's proposals for a UK-EU security pact, efforts to tackle smuggling gangs, as well as possible improvements to the Brexit trade deal.
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