UK-EU summit live: Keir Starmer secures post-Brexit deal

Times

19-05-2025

Today's deal will ease checks on British produce being sold in Europe. It's good news for food exporters, says Jonathan Reynolds.
'We've got a situation where, after Brexit, we've got the same food standards in place on both sides of the border, yet our agricultural food exports are down by a fifth,' the business and trade secretary told the BBC.
'You can't sell some products at all — I mean, a British sausage made in my constituency. You can't sell those. Can't sell burgers.
'We've got no real reason for that situation continuing, and, where we can work with our partners, where we can remove costs, where we can remove friction, that means cheaper bills in the long run.'
Britain has agreed to negotiate a youth mobility deal with the EU, but Brussels has not yet accepted a hard cap on numbers. One text wrapped into the deal is understood to say that a scheme giving time-limited rights will be 'controlled' after a fudge between Britain's insistence on an annual limit and EU demands for a more open-ended scheme.
Labour is already being attacked for opening the door to more people arriving from the EU only a week after promising to cut immigration. But Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, insisted that 'a capped scheme focused on young people, time limited' was 'totally different' to freedom of movement and did not bring rights to access welfare.
Confused? This is what a youth mobility scheme means
Nick Thomas-Symonds, Britain's chief negotiator in these talks, has confirmed that a deal has been reached.
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Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, has defended Britain's decision to give European fishing boats long-term access to UK waters, arguing British fishermen will benefit from being to sell their catch to the EU more easily.
'It's not just about what you catch in the UK, it's who you're going to sell it to and actually, for agricultural, fish and shellfish products, 70 per cent of our exports are to the EU,' he told the BBC.
'That market access is fundamental to the prosperity of that industry, so it's not a trade-off in that regard. It's about delivering something that works for that sector.'
By Chris Smyth, Whitehall Editor
Sir Keir Starmer will get his moment of triumph today, but only after the EU used his evident desperation to force a big concession on fish.
While the language today will be of friendship and a reset alliance after the acrimony of the Brexit years, the EU decision to play hardball last night shows that hard-nosed interests still prevail.
The outline of a deal was clear before the weekend; Nick Thomas-Symonds, Starmer's chief negotiator, took to the airwaves to sell it even while talks were continuing. That gave Brussels a clear opportunity to come back and ask for more: EU negotiators made clear they were willing to torpedo Starmer's big moment unless Britain conceded long-term access to fisheries.
While the British side pushed back against a permanent link between access for UK food exports and fish, they had to give some ground, and granted the EU a 12-year extension on current catch quotas.
Starmer will hope all this is forgotten if Britain becomes more prosperous and secure, arguing that most voters just want to move on from Brexit. But last night's wobble was a reminder that a 'reset' in relations does not mean Brussels is willing to do Britain any favours.
Without confirming that the deal is done, the business secretary said it would be a 'real prize' for Britain.
Jonathan Reynolds told Times Radio earlier that the country's arrangement with the EU since Brexit has had 'huge gaps in it, not just on areas to do with trade, but to do with security as well.
'So this is about making people better off, about making the country more secure, about making sure there are more jobs in the UK.'
We're about to see its full scope, but many elements have already been agreed. Everything we know so far is here, but here's a brief summary:
● On defence, both sides agree to closer alignment on defence in a pact under which British troops could fight alongside European armies.
● Britain will agree to align with EU food safety and animal welfare standards in return for Brussels easing checks on British produce sold in Europe.
● On energy, both parties will merge their emissions trading schemes while promises of electricity market liberalisation will allow more interconnectors to be built between the UK and Europe.
Britain has agreed to give the EU access to British fisheries until 2038 in a last-minute concession to get a deal over the line.
EU ambassadors are understood to be agreeing a deal after using Sir Keir Starmer's desire to announce agreement today to force further movement.
British negotiators believe they have succeeded in persuading the EU to drop a formal link between fisheries access and a deal to ease British food exports, something which would have handed Brussels a powerful tool in future talks. But in return they have granted access to British waters for another 12 years after the current deal expires next year, far longer than the four years previously on the table.
Talks ran into the early hours because Brussels was demanding to tie the deal's food export arrangements to long-term access to British fisheries.
Britain has been prepared to extend existing fishing quotas, currently 75 per cent of pre-Brexit levels, for another four years. The EU was stipulating that any future attempt to renegotiate quotas would allow it to reopen the food standards deal, meaning it could threaten to reimpose border checks.
A deal resetting relations between Britain and the European Union is expected to be signed in London today after negotiations that ran into the early hours.
It will be signed by Sir Keir Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, at the first UK-EU summit since Brexit.