UK and EU poised to grasp post-Brexit reset as talks go to wire
Resolutions are expected to be found in time for Monday’s meeting, but the question remained as to how detailed the texts published at the summit would be
[LONDON] UK and European Union negotiators worked into Sunday (May 18) evening in a bid to reset post-Brexit relations under Keir Starmer’s new Labour government ahead of a summit in London.
While both sides expect announcements to be made on Monday on a defense and security pact, a common understanding on other aspects of the relationship and a joint statement on their alliance in uncertain geopolitical times, sticking points remained even in the final hours.
One of the main points of contention has been over a four-year time-limit sought by Britain on an extension of current EU fishing quotas relating to its waters, which the EU wanted to lengthen. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, requested an equivalent time-limit on a deal to ease agri-food checks.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will meet with Starmer on Monday.
The EU has also been disappointed by Britain’s suggestion that it wanted to explore a possible youth exchange scheme, seeking a more ambitious outcome including UK membership of the bloc’s Erasmus+ programme. Without a clearer commitment to a youth mobility plan, the EU remained reluctant in the final days to sign off on language around improving the rights of travelling British artists and allowing UK citizens to use e-gates across the continent.
Britain also wanted a firmer steer from the EU that it would let UK defence companies access the bloc’s defence fund.
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Resolutions are expected to be found in time for Monday’s meeting, but the question remained as to how detailed the texts published at the summit would be, Bloomberg reported earlier.
While the EU is keen to rebuild ties with Britain, especially on security matters, many member states are wary about letting London cherry-pick the benefits of closer ties without accepting commitments like the free moment of people.
That creates a difficult situation for Starmer, who’s under pressure from Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage’s surging opposition party Reform UK.
Starmer this week announced a crackdown on migration and faced criticism from the left for claiming Britain could become “an island of strangers”, rhetoric that highlighted his journey away from the politician who vowed to “defend free movement” when he won the Labour leadership five years ago.
The summit comes amid the busiest stretch of diplomacy by Starmer since he took office in July. In the past two weeks alone, he has visited Kyiv with other “Coalition of the Willing” leaders, announced a free trade agreement with India and a sealed a deal with Trump to ease tariffs.
“In this time of great uncertainty and volatility, the UK will not respond by turning inwards but by proudly taking our place on the world stage – strengthening our alliances and closing deals in the interests of British people,” Starmer said in a statement on Saturday, adding that a new deal with Europe would be “good for our jobs, good for our bills and good for our borders”.
The aggressive trade stance by US President Donald Trump, who has sought to reshape the global economic order by placing tariffs on allies and competitors alike, has shaken the transatlantic relationship and given the EU and UK common purpose.
European allies have also been rethinking the continent’s post-war security architecture after Trump has appeared to align more closely with Russian talking points, hectored Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the oval office and threatened to remove support for Nato members that did not spend enough on defense.
On Sunday, Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said negotiations were going to the wire and there was still no final deal.
“We are in the very final hours,” he said in an interview with Sky News. “What we are looking to deliver tomorrow is a deal that’s going to be good for jobs. It’s going to help to secure our borders, and it’s going to help to lower household bills.” BLOOMBERG
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