Latest news with #EUUKrelations
Reuters
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
UK and EU agree to work towards youth mobility deal, document shows
BRUSSELS/LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) - Britain and the European Union have agreed to work towards a deal that would make it easier for young people to live and work across the continent, according to document seen by Reuters on Monday. The so-called "balanced youth experience" scheme will allow young people from Britain and the EU to work, study, volunteer, or travel, for a limited period of time in each other's countries, the document said. "The European Commission and the United Kingdom should work towards a balanced youth experience scheme on terms to be mutually agreed," the document said. "It should provide a dedicated visa path and ensure that the overall number of participants is acceptable to both sides." The plan is part of a wider reset of ties between Britain and the EU to be announced later on Monday, also covering trade, defence and other issues, in the most significant such reset since Brexit. The British government had until a few months ago rejected the EU's demands for a youth mobility deal, arguing it would be too close to restoring the free movement of people across the bloc that Britain ended when it left the EU in 2020. Any deal is likely to be politically contentious. Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain's populist, right-wing Reform UK party, has said such a plan would "effectively be a back door to free movement" that was opposed by British voters in the 2016 Brexit referendum. British officials have said one of the main issues in any negotiation will be how to cap the number of EU students who will be allowed to come to Britain. (This story has been refiled to add the dropped word 'be' in paragraph 6)
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
EU and UK reach tentative agreement ahead of summit, say EU officials
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union and Britain reached a tentative agreement on defence and security, fisheries and youth mobility ahead of a EU-UK summit on Monday, paving the way for British firms to participate in large EU defence contracts, EU officials said. Representatives of EU governments in Brussels received a text of a Common Understanding between Britain and the EU and the document is now being approved by all 27 EU governments, the officials said. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will meet later on Monday in London. "There is an agreement ... on the different texts and parallel aspects of the EU-UK Summit," one EU diplomat said. "From my understanding, all member states seem to be happy with what's put on the table as the summit is about to start. There is now an ongoing written procedure to have the formal agreement of all member states but it shouldn't cause any problem," the diplomat said. Britain is poised to agree the most significant reset of ties with the European Union since Brexit on Monday, seeking closer collaboration on trade and defence to help grow the economy and boost security on the continent. "With the positive signs coming from the negotiators in London in the last days and hours, the scene is now all set for a very successful and constructive reset of the relationship, that both the EU and UK will benefit from," the diplomat said.
Sky News
19-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Easing trade and signing a defence pact would be manifesto promises delivered - and Starmer could use a win
This EU-UK summit has for months been openly billed by Sir Keir Starmer's Downing Street as a hugely significant moment for this government. The Labour leader promised in his 2024 election manifesto that the UK would sign a new security pact with the EU to strengthen cooperation and improve the UK's trading relationship with the continent. Since winning power in July, he has embarked on a charm offensive across European capitals in a bid to secure that better post-Brexit deal. Monday is set to be when the PM makes good on those promises at a historic summit at Lancaster House in London. 16:30 There, the EU and UK are expected to sign a security and defence partnership, which has taken on a new sense of urgency since the arrival of President Trump in the White House. It is an agreement that will symbolise the post-Brexit reset, with the PM, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa are also expected to sign off on a communique pledging deeper economic cooperation. But, rather like the torturous Brexit negotiations I covered for years in London and Brussels under Conservative prime ministers, Sir Keir's post-Brexit reset talks are going down to the wire. As of 10.30pm on Sunday, discussions were set to continue overnight, the two sides snared up over details around fisheries, food trade and youth mobility. It's not that both sides don't want the reset: the war in Ukraine and the spectre of the US becoming an unreliable partner have pushed London and Brussels closer together in their common defence interest. Fishing and youth mobility - the two snags But the pressure for this deal weighs more heavily on our prime minister than his European colleagues. He's been talking for months about securing a reset and better trading relationship with the EU to bolster the UK economy. His need to demonstrate wins is why, suggests one continental source, the Europeans are letting talks go to the wire, with London and Brussels in a tangle over fishing rights - key demands of France and the Netherlands - and a youth mobility scheme, which is a particular focus for Berlin. "The British came with 50 asks, we came with two - on fishing and the youth mobility scheme," says one European source. The EU is asking for longer-term access to UK fishing grounds - a 10-year deal - which the British government has rebuffed, insisting it will not go beyond a four-year deal. In response, Brussels is saying it will not lift regulatory checks on food, agricultural and animal products unless the UK moves on fishing. This has left the two sides at an impasse. EU sources say Brussels had offered a time-limited deal to lift checks on animal products - replicating London's offer on fisheries - but the UK is reluctant to do this as it leaves too much uncertainty for farmers and supermarkets. Scotland election weighing on talks A deal on food products, known as sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) goods, would be a boost for the economy, with potentially up to 80% of border checks disappearing, given the breadth of products - paint, fashion goods, leather as well as foods - with an animal component. Any deal would also mean the UK would have to align with rules made in Brussels and make a financial contribution to the EU to fund work on food and animal standards. Both elements will trigger accusations of Brexit "betrayal", as the UK signs up as a "rule taker" and finds itself paying back into the EU for better access. Government figures had been telling me how they were more than prepared to face down the criticisms likely to be thrown at them from the Conservatives. But sensitivities around fishing, particularly in Scotland, where Labour is facing elections next year, have weighed on talks. The other area of huge tension is over a youth mobility scheme, which would enable young adults from member states to study and work in the UK and vice versa. Government sources familiar with the talks acknowledge some sort of scheme will happen, but want details to be vague - I'm told it might be "an agreement about a future agreement", while the EU sees this a one of its two core demands. 2:54 In talks late on Sunday night, the UK government appeared to be softening on re-opening the pre-Brexit Erasmus student exchange scheme as perhaps a way to get around the impasse, according to one EU source. The UK rejoining this scheme had been rebuffed by Sir Keir last year, but was raised again last night in talks, according to a source. Common ground on defence and security Wherever the economic horsetrading lands, the two sides have found common ground in recent months is on defence and security, with the UK working in lockstep with European allies over Ukraine and relationships deepening in recent months as Sir Keir Starmer has worked with President Macron and others to try to smooth tensions between Kyiv and Washington and work on a European peace deal for Ukraine. If details on trade, youth mobility and fisheries are fudged on Monday, the expectation is that the two sides will sign a security partnership that will reiterate the UK's commitment to build up the continent's defence capability and stand united against Russian aggression with its partners. 3:31 The deal should also mean British arms companies will be able to access the EU's €150bn rearmament programme, which has been set up to create a massive surge in defence spending over the next five years as Europe prepares itself to better repel threats. As I write this, talks are ongoing, but it is clearly in neither side's interest for Monday to go wrong. The EU and UK need to maintain a united front and, more importantly for Keir Starmer domestically, the PM needs to show an increasingly sceptical public he can deliver on his promises. Easing trade barriers with Britain's biggest trading partner and signing an EU defence pact would be two manifesto promises delivered.
Bloomberg
16-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Allegra Stratton: Can Starmer Keep the Migration Red Lines?
By We asked earlier this month if Keir Starmer was going to get the trifecta of trade agreements – deals with India and the US, and a reset with the EU — three fruits lining up like a slot machine. Next week we find out. Ahead of that our team has the inside track on how that negotiation has gone. On Monday, they tell us the EU and UK will certainly be friends and allies with big smiles on show. But it has been hard to find an economic deal worth shouting about.
The Guardian
15-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
EU and UK at loggerheads over fishing rights and youth mobility
EU member states have rejected UK positions on fishing and a youth mobility deal, as tensions mount before a much-anticipated summit between Keir Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen next week. Senior EU diplomats meeting on Wednesday expressed disappointment and frustration over the British positions on fishing rights and youth mobility to the European Commission, which is negotiating a wide-ranging reset in relations with the British government. France and the Netherlands, with broad backing, insist that an EU-UK veterinary agreement – aimed at reducing burdensome checks on food products crossing the border – should be limited to four years, unless London agrees to grant long-term access to British waters. The expiry date is an attempt to maximise leverage on the UK over the veterinary agreement, which was identified as a priority in the Labour manifesto. The EU is deeply dismayed by the UK's proposed four-year deal on fish, which is shorter than that Boris Johnson agreed in 2020. One EU ambassador told the meeting that Europe would be destroying its fishing industry without such reciprocity, it is understood. One diplomatic source told the Guardian that the UK was 'not sufficiently ambitious'. Another said: 'There is a feeling among a large group of member states that the balance between rights and obligations is not there yet.' The commission told the diplomats that talks with the UK were 'very difficult' despite well over 100 hours spent in high-level negotiations over recent weeks. Starmer is expected to meet von der Leyen on the margins of the European Political Community summit in Albania on Friday in a bid to unblock these sticking points. The prime minister will host von der Leyen; the European Council president, António Costa; and the EU high foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, at the first EU-UK summit in London on Monday. EU ambassadors will convene on Sunday to discuss the summit text, in a piece of last-minute scheduling reminiscent of Brexit negotiations. Both sides hope to sign a defence agreement on Monday that will unlock the door to greater participation by British arms companies in European defence projects. Negotiators have already welcomed the accord in the draft summit declaration seen by the Guardian. While several EU diplomats expressed confidence of a 'substantial' outcome, they also insisted the UK had to move on post-Brexit fishing rights and youth mobility. '[Fisheries] is one of the building blocks of this agreement. It is not possible to imagine that we have a successful summit without a positive outcome on this issue,' a third diplomat said. 'If you don't have an agreement on fisheries, you don't have an agreement on SDP [security and defence policy], you don't have an agreement on migration. It has to be a win-win.' Under the trade agreement struck between the EU and Boris Johnson in 2020, the EU's share of fish quotas in British waters was reduced by 25% over a transition period that ends on 30 June 2026. The EU, led by countries that fish in British waters, want a long-term agreement to preserve the status quo after that date. EU member states are also unhappy with proposals that a work-study exchange scheme for people aged 18-30 could be limited to one year and subject to quotas. On Wednesday numerous diplomats criticised UK plans not to exempt EU students from foreign tuition fee rates, a red line for the government, which is under stringent self-imposed public spending limits. While domestic students pay £9,535 a year, foreign student fees can range up to £38,000, adding significant costs for EU students studying in the UK. The government, which on Monday unveiled tough measures that it expects to curb migration by 100,000 a year, also opposes EU demands to waive the NHS surcharge for young people.
