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Breakthrough in EU-UK talks
Talks between the UK and EU over a significant reset to relations achieved a last-minute breakthrough overnight, believed to be about fishing rights. However there are still some steps to be taken, reports the Guardian’s political editor, Pippa Crerar.
The talks were taking place over the weekend ahead of a key summit in London hosted by Keir Starmer with EU leaders on Monday, which is aimed at resetting the UK’s relationship with the bloc five years after Brexit.
The talks were aimed at striking a deal to be signed at the summit and had gone down to the wire to resolve squabbling over long-standing issues, including fishing rights and a youth mobility scheme. It is understood a breakthrough was made over fishing rights. “The EU was insisting the government offer long-term access to British waters, beyond four-year deal proposed by UK, and was pushing for double-digit extension,” reports Pippa Crerar. “Brussels had linked fishing with agreement to drop checks and bureaucracy around sale of food, animal & other agricultural products, known as sanitary and phytosanitary goods (SPS). EU had suggested this should be pegged to same timescale as fish.”
An agreement would mark a symbolic step in turning the page on the animosity that followed Britain’s exit from the bloc in January 2020.
No 10’s decision to issue a press statement on Saturday presenting the summit as a done deal caused irritation in Brussels, prompting some to recall the mantra of Brexit negotiations: “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”
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UK-EU reset deal still not agreed, business secretary says
As we have been reporting, the “core details” of a reset deal between the UK and EU were agreed in the early hours, though the final touches appear to still be being worked out.
The deal covers areas such as defence, trade, fishing, and a possible youth mobility scheme that could allow British and European 18- to 30-year-olds to travel freely around Europe under certain conditions.
In an interview with Sky News this morning, the UK’s trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the deal has not been finalised, with issues over agricultural products and e-gates remaining sticking points in the negotiations.
He said:
Nothing on these deals is sorted until it all gets sorted. There’s a deal to be done here, we’ve always said that.
There are real benefits to the UK which are on offer on sorting this out, because there are massive gaps that we have with the EU at the moment.
“There is not currently a deal agreed at this point,” Reynolds added.
What could be in the new security and defence pact that is likely to be announced today?
We expect an announcement on defence and security later today, which could see the UK get access to a £125bn EU defence fund - a boost for UK defence companies.
The fund has taken on a new sense of urgency since Donald Trump re-entered the White House in January as the US president has signalled that America will no longer be the primary guarantor of European security.
My colleagues Jennifer Rankin and Jessica Elgot have a little more detail about the fund in this story. Here is an extract from it:
The SAFE fund would allow EU member states to take out loans to buy up to €150bn of air and missile defence systems, ammunition, drones and other military kit.
It was proposed by the commission in March, as part of a drive to increase European defence spending by €800bn amid deep shock at Donald Trump’s rush to offer concessions to Vladimir Putin in a bid to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Reflecting the influence of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the fund has a “buy European” rule meaning that components from non-EU countries can only make up 35% of the cost of any project.
That restriction is relaxed for Ukraine and any country with a defence and security partnership with the EU.
Breakthrough in EU-UK talks
Talks between the UK and EU over a significant reset to relations achieved a last-minute breakthrough overnight, believed to be about fishing rights. However there are still some steps to be taken, reports the Guardian’s political editor, Pippa Crerar.
The talks were taking place over the weekend ahead of a key summit in London hosted by Keir Starmer with EU leaders on Monday, which is aimed at resetting the UK’s relationship with the bloc five years after Brexit.
The talks were aimed at striking a deal to be signed at the summit and had gone down to the wire to resolve squabbling over long-standing issues, including fishing rights and a youth mobility scheme. It is understood a breakthrough was made over fishing rights. “The EU was insisting the government offer long-term access to British waters, beyond four-year deal proposed by UK, and was pushing for double-digit extension,” reports Pippa Crerar. “Brussels had linked fishing with agreement to drop checks and bureaucracy around sale of food, animal & other agricultural products, known as sanitary and phytosanitary goods (SPS). EU had suggested this should be pegged to same timescale as fish.”
An agreement would mark a symbolic step in turning the page on the animosity that followed Britain’s exit from the bloc in January 2020.
No 10’s decision to issue a press statement on Saturday presenting the summit as a done deal caused irritation in Brussels, prompting some to recall the mantra of Brexit negotiations: “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”
