EU and UK eye new era of green ties as Britain’s Labour takes power

“There’s no reason why a government which may well be seen as more cooperative could [not] pursue some agreements on that,” he said.

That could be a boon for Europe’s wind sector, too. The industry is currently pushing to build cross-border power links anchored to wind farms in the North Sea, which it says could help meet both Labour’s and Brussels’ goals of roughly quadrupling their offshore wind by 2030.

But according to Giles Dickson, CEO of Brussels’ largest wind lobby WindEurope, that requires drafting a legal framework on how to share costs — which currently doesn’t exist.

“Investments in these kinds of projects are not happening,” he said, adding that “it’s having a real-world operational impact” that should now be addressed.

For Lange, the Brussels lawmaker, the solution can only be closer ties.

“In this globalized world of fragmentation, of protective measures, of Russia’s war, it’s so important that we really act on fundamental questions like energy, like climate change … in a common way,” he said.

“The United Kingdom is still a European country,” he said. “There is a need … to work closer together.”