The Tories, advised by Foreign Office diplomats, believed it was not worth becoming embroiled in their bickering.
David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, could be the first senior minister to take this approach by attending a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers in Luxembourg.
While his attendance is yet to be confirmed, it would make him only the second British minister to attend the gathering since Brexit.
Liz Truss attended an emergency session after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Sir Keir is said to be relishing the “family photo” moment alongside more than 40 continental leaders being hosted at Blenheim Palace on Thursday for a European Political Community (EPC) gathering.
Ministers believe it will be a significant moment for the Labour Government trying to signal Britain is back on the world stage by resetting strained post-Brexit ties with Brussels.
Senior Labour figures have privately joked about thanking Rishi Sunak for calling the general election ahead of both last week’s Nato summit and the upcoming EPC because it gives the party easy access to a host of foreign leaders.
The Government’s main priority is understood to be the signing of a pact to formalise UK-EU security cooperation as early as October 2024, when Mr Lammy is due to travel to Luxembourg to meet with his counterparts.
Closer ties with Europol
The deal envisaged by Labour could include a “mechanism” for closer ties between Britain’s police force and Europol, the bloc’s law enforcement agency, to crack down on people smuggling.
Mr Thomas-Symonds told Mr Sefcovic that stopping illegal boat crossings in the Channel by tackling smuggling gangs transporting people to France was a priority, sources said.
But the EU’s Brexit negotiator struck a more cautious note by insisting the bloc would work within “our existing agreements, the cornerstone of EU-Britain relations”, referring to the divorce and trade deals signed under Boris Johnson’s leadership.
This is a blow to any Labour hopes that Brussels could consider any large-scale renegotiations of the documents in the coming years.