UK's Starmer seeks EU reset on e-gates, food trade and defence cooperation, balancing concessions with benefits for Britons
PM Starmer to host EU leaders tomorrow
UK seeks to balance concessions with benefits for Britons
UK travellers could get access to airport e-gates
Polls show a majority regrets voting to leave EU
LONDON, May 18 — Britain hopes to secure a reset deal with the European Union tomorrow that would boost defence and security cooperation, and smooth the arrival of people and also food into the bloc, its chief negotiator said today.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer will host EU leaders in London on Monday in the most significant effort to reset ties since Britain left the EU in 2020 after four years of acrimonious divorce talks.
Wary of reigniting domestic battles over Brexit, and with its chief campaigner Nigel Farage a fierce political rival, Starmer is trying to secure a deal that will include tangible benefits for Britons to offset the concessions it will need to make to Brussels.
Britain wants the deal to include the use of faster e-gates for British travellers at EU borders, reduced red tape on food trade, and a new defence and security partnership that could allow British companies access to an EU loan scheme worth €150 billion (RM717 billion).
It also hopes to agree closer ties on energy and carbon markets, better cooperation on migration smuggling gangs, the mutual recognition of certain professional qualifications, as well as access for touring artists and data sharing.
In return, it is likely to agree a limited youth mobility scheme to enable young people in Britain and the EU to live and work in each other's countries, a British return to the Erasmus+ student exchange programme, and a longer-term agreement on fishing.
While the outline of the defence and security pact is likely to emerge on Monday, it remains unclear how many other elements will be signed off by then. EU ambassadors were due to meet to discuss the final terms today.
'We want a deal that makes a difference for the British people,' Britain's EU negotiator Nick Thomas-Symonds, told Sky News.
'What we are looking to deliver tomorrow is a deal that is going to be good for jobs, that's going to help to secure our borders, and it's going to help to lower household bills.'
Polls show that a majority of Britons regrets voting to leave the EU in 2016 and, while there are political risks in moving closer to Brussels, the government says Russia's invasion of Ukraine and uncertainty around US protection for Europe mean new alliances are needed.
The government has also made growing the economy its number one priority. A refusal to rejoin the EU's single market and customs union will limit the economic impact, but easier and faster trade across UK-EU borders will help.
Starmer's government, which has struggled since it was elected last July, also secured a free trade deal with India earlier this month and persuaded US President Donald Trump to reduce tariffs on some sectors. — Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
an hour ago
- New Straits Times
Wilders: firebrand 'Dutch Trump' gambles for power
SOMETIMES known as the "Dutch Trump" both for his bouffant dyed hair and firebrand rhetoric, Geert Wilders' anti-Islam, anti-immigrant and anti-EU message has catapulted him to the brink of power. From calling Moroccans "scum" to holding competitions for cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, Wilders has built a career from his self-appointed mission to stop an "Islamic invasion" of the West. He has remained defiant despite brushes with the law – he was convicted for insulting Moroccans – and death threats that have kept him under police protection since 2004. Now his latest political gamble has collapsed the coalition government he agreed to, in the hope of finally realising his ambition to become Dutch prime minister. After years in the political wilderness, the 61-year-old made his breakthrough in 2023, stunning Europe with a surprise election win. His far-right Freedom Party (PVV) took 37 seats in the 150-seat parliament, handily beating the more established Green/Left and liberal VVD parties. He toned down his anti-immigration rhetoric during the campaign, even saying during the last election debate there were "bigger problems than fighting against the flood of asylum seekers and immigrants." Wilders vowed to put his anti-Islam outbursts "in the freezer" as the price for taking up residence in the "Little Tower", as the prime minister's office in The Hague is known. But his coalition partners had other ideas. The Dutch political system is based on consensus, meaning no one party can dominate, and two of the four party leaders were queasy at the thought of Wilders leading the country. He reluctantly stepped aside to clinch a coalition deal, writing on X: "The love for my country and voters is bigger and more important than my own position." After rollercoaster talks, the four parties agreed on Dick Schoof as a compromise PM, with a mandate to introduce the "strictest-ever" asylum policy seen in the country. But Wilders' ambitions were unsated and he frequently voiced his desire to become premier. He also again ramped up his anti-Islam rhetoric. "Walk the streets of Western Europe... and you will see that it often looks like a mediaeval Arab city, full of headscarves and burqas," he alleged in a recent speech. "Islam is rising but I do not want Islam to rise... for Islam and freedom are incompatible." Born in 1963 in southern Venlo, close to the German border, Wilders grew up in a Catholic family with his brother and two sisters. His mother was half-Indonesian, a fact Wilders rarely mentions. He developed an interest in politics in the 1980s, his older brother Paul told Der Spiegel magazine. "He was neither clearly on the left or the right at the time, nor was he xenophobic. But he was fascinated by the political game, the struggle for power and influence," Paul Wilders said. His hatred of Islam appeared to have developed slowly. He spent time in Israel on a kibbutz, witnessing first-hand tensions with the Palestinians. He also voiced shock at the assassinations of far-right leader Pim Fortuyn in 2002 and the radical anti-Islam filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004. When he heard the news of Van Gogh's murder: "I remember my legs were shaking with shock and indignation," he wrote in a 2012 book. "I can honestly say that I felt anger, not fear." Wilders entered politics in 1998 in the VVD party. During his early days in politics he started dying his brown hair blonde and learnt his media-savvy ways. Over the years he vowed not to be silenced, despite being convicted of insulting Moroccan-Dutch citizens. In 2006 he quit the VVD to found his own party and in 2017 it became the second largest in parliament, falling back to third largest in 2021. By tapping into a seam of Dutch discontent, Wilders also managed to push the political discourse in the Netherlands to the right. But Wilders also cut an isolated figure. He was married to a Hungarian woman but they had no children. When not posting anti-Islamic invective on his one social media account, he posted pictures of their cats on another. His party consisted of just one person: himself. And his security meant he had little contact with the outside world. "Geert's world has become very small," his brother told Der Spiegel. "It consists of the parliament, public events and his apartment. He can hardly go anywhere else."
The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
Italy's PM, French president hold talks in Rome
ROME, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron and the two leaders held bilateral talks on various issues, including trade, and relationships with the United States, according to Italian media. The French president was greeted with the guard of honour at Palazzo Chigi, and Meloni and Macron were seen shaking hands and smiling for cameras before entering the government palace. The bilateral talks were expected to help dispel recent tensions between the two countries, Ansa news agency reported. France and Italy are traditional allies, and the second and third-largest economies in the European Union (EU), respectively, but the two governments have been at odds over a number of issues, and are politically distant: Meloni leads a right-wing, nationalist cabinet, while Macron is centrist and strongly pro-European. According to Ansa, the two leaders also differ from each other in their approach to the United States, with Meloni seeking to build close ties with President Donald Trump -- and play a negotiating role between the United States and the EU on tariffs -- and Macron advocating a more independent EU's stance. On the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, both countries have vowed strong support to Kiev, but the Italian prime minister has shown skepticism toward a French-British plan to send peacekeeping troops in case of a peace deal. Meloni's office did not release any statement after the bilateral meeting with the French president on Tuesday, nor held a press conference. On Saturday, however, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani declared Macron's visit would be "an absolutely positive event between two countries that are allies and neighbours."
Free Malaysia Today
7 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Leverkusen sign Brentford goalie Flekken
Mark Flekken has signed a deal with Leverkusen running to 2028. (AP pic) MUNICH : Bayer Leverkusen have signed Netherlands goalkeeper Mark Flekken from Premier League side Brentford, the Bundesliga club announced today. German media reported Leverkusen paid €10 million to secure the 31-year-old's services. Flekken, who signed a deal running to 2028, will likely take over from current Leverkusen goalie Lukas Hradecky, who captained the side to their historic unbeaten league and cup double in 2023-24. In a statement, Flekken said he was taking 'another special step in my career', adding that Leverkusen are 'a top German club with high national and European goals'. Leverkusen are expected to undergo a rebuild this off-season, with former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag having already replaced the Real Madrid-bound Xabi Alonso as coach. Centreback Jonathan Tah signed on a free transfer with German champions Bayern Munich, while midfielder Florian Wirtz is in talks to join wingback Jeremie Frimpong in moving to Premier League winners Liverpool. The Dutch keeper has Bundesliga experience, having spent five years at Freiburg before making the switch to Brentford in 2023.
