Latest news with #EUreset
BreakingNews.ie
19-05-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Explained: What's in the UK's new deal with the EU?
The UK agreed the most significant reset of relations with the European Union since Brexit on Monday, with both sides hailing deals on everything from trade and migration to security and defence. Below are the main points agreed. Advertisement Defence and security pact Britain's Labour government and the EU clinched a defence and security pact that previous Conservative governments opted not to seek when Brexit was first negotiated. Both sides agree it is imperative for European countries to work more closely together on defence, given Russia's invasion of Ukraine and calls by US president Donald Trump for Nato's European members to shoulder more of the burden of the alliance. As part of the reset, Britain will agree a new security and defence partnership, which it said would "pave the way" for British companies to access a €150 billion programme to rearm Europe. Britain will also consider taking part in EU civilian and military crisis management and be able to participate in joint procurement with the bloc. Advertisement Food standards Outside the defence and security partnership, the rest of the agreement was outlined in a "common understanding" document, which listed areas of agreement and shared intentions while saying some details still needed to be finalised in the coming weeks and months. Central to Labour's plans for an EU reset was a veterinary agreement with the EU aimed at preventing unnecessary border checks on agricultural produce such as meat and dairy. The so-called Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement will have no time limit, giving British businesses more certainty. The deal would maintain high food standards, which Britain also insisted were not lowered in its discussions with the US to remove tariffs. Advertisement The deal was welcomed by groups in Northern Ireland, including the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU), which said the agreement was a "major step forward" for the North's agri-food industry. UFU president William Irvine said: "This is a significant breakthrough. A huge amount of work has gone in at UFU level over many years to get to this point. The majority of what we have been lobbying for is now reflected in this agreement. It brings real, long-term certainty for our members and the wider agri-food industry. "An end to burdensome SPS paperwork, removal of checks on goods moving to Northern Ireland, inclusion of second-hand machinery, progress on the movement of live cattle, pesticide regulations and rules on organics – these are all key wins." Mobility A youth mobility scheme to make it easier for under-30s to travel and work between Britain and the EU is a priority for the bloc, and the two sides said they would work towards a youth mobility deal. Advertisement Britain said any scheme would be capped and time-limited. British prime minister Keir Starmer's office reiterated that it would not mark a return to freedom of movement, with controls on how many people would use the scheme, and how long they could stay. The two sides also agreed to work more closely together on tackling irregular migration. Fisheries Britain and the EU will extend full reciprocal access to waters to fish until June 30th, 2038, extending by 12 years provisions that were due to expire in 2026. Britain said the deal would not result in an increase in the amount of fish EU vessels can catch in British waters. Advertisement Britain will also invest £360 million (€ into its fishing industry towards new technology and equipment to modernise the fleet. The post-Brexit trade agreement transferred existing quotas to the bloc for a transition period, after which they would be negotiated on an annual or multi-annual basis. Fishing has long been a source of tension. The EU has taken Britain to court over its ban of fishing for sand eels in UK waters. Electricity Britain left the EU's internal energy market after Brexit, but the UK's energy industry is pushing for more efficient and closer electricity trading arrangements with the bloc. The two sides will now explore Britain's participation in the EU's internal electricity market. Britain imported around 14 per cent of its electricity in 2024, a record high, through power links with Belgium, Denmark, France and Norway. Carbon markets World Starmer strikes post-Brexit reset deal with EU Read More Many EU and British businesses have called for the EU and UK carbon markets to be linked. They already collaborate on charging power plants and other industrial entities for their carbon emissions to reach climate targets. Britain and the EU will now work towards establishing a link between their emission trading systems - which Britain said would improve energy security and help businesses avoid an EU carbon tax due to come into force next year. Industry analysts have said linking the two carbon markets would probably drive up UK prices, which are lower than in the EU, to EU levels. Other areas The mutual recognition of certain professional qualifications, changes to ease travel for touring artists and data-sharing are all areas where Britain and the EU may seek to pursue future agreement.
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Starmer HAS to respect our decision to leave the EU, says Shadow Chancellor MEL STRIDE
Today's the day we are set to find out the details of Sir Keir Starmer 's 'reset' with the European Union. If his previous attempts at trade deals are anything to go by, Britain will be worse off at the end of the day than we are right now. Because when Labour negotiates, Britain loses. Sir Keir is meeting European leaders with a simple choice: Defend and respect the UK's independence or begin unpicking Brexit, step by step. Our great country voted to leave the European Union – a democratic decision that must be respected. A promise of a Britain where we could strike trade deals, forge our own way and be a rule maker, not a rule taker. Our prime minister should put the national interest first and uphold this. But the early signs of this EU reset are worrying. And under Starmer's leadership, the UK has slipped backwards on the global stage. The India trade deal offered overseas workers tax breaks while British workers faced higher levies at home through Labour's reckless jobs tax. His talks with the US were rushed, and left us worse off than where we were in March. And if today is anything like his trip to Albania, where that country's PM stood next to him and told the media he wasn't interested in the plans Starmer had travelled there to announce, it will be a bad day for Britain. This is not how a country like the UK should conduct itself on the international stage – but that's what happens when you enter government with no plan. Britain needs growth and jobs, yet Starmer has piled record taxes on businesses and unemployment is rising as a result because businesses, not the state, are the engine of job creation. Last week's figures showed a 10 per cent increase in joblessness since Starmer took office. Job losses are more than just statistics – they are families struggling to make ends meet, food not being put on the table and people's livelihoods unfulfilled. If Starmer is serious about easing friction for travellers, a simple e-gates agreement should be agreed. Instead, his ministers are pursuing a youth mobility scheme that could be simply a return to free movement by the back door. Ever more low-skill, low-wage immigration is the last thing we need. And if so-called 'dynamic alignment' is Labour's plan, that means following EU rules without even having a say over what those rules are – that would be a betrayal of the Brexit vote, pure and simple. We cannot afford to become a country that gives ground away quietly, piece by piece. But we have the world's worst negotiator in No 10. And countries around the world are queuing up to take advantage. Our Prime Minister must get a grip and, for once, stand up for Britain on the world stage. But if his record is anything to go by, none of us should hold our breath.
Telegraph
18-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Starmer is kidding himself if he thinks cosying up to the EU will boost Britain
Monday sees a summit in London between the UK and the EU which could lead to what the British government terms 'an EU reset'. What should we expect? A good deal of what is going to be discussed concerns defence. The likely agreement here is largely going to be formalising the existing situation. Britain and France have been leading the attempt to establish a 'Coalition of the Willing' to support Ukraine. And it has been obvious for some time that with the US growing increasingly weary of paying for the defence of Europe, European countries, including the UK, are having to step up to the plate. Nevertheless, there is a potential economic benefit to the UK from a defence agreement. It seems likely that UK companies will be able to bid for and win defence contracts funded by the EU's €150bn (£126bn) defence scheme. This would undoubtedly be good news. But it is hardly a game changer. To put this apparently enormous sum into perspective, it represents about 4pc of the UK's GDP. So if British firms were able to win about 10pc of the contracts available, this would represent a total boost to UK demand of just under 0.5pc of our GDP. But this boost would be spread over a number of years so the impact on GDP in any one year is likely to be pretty small. The deal may also involve removing customs checks on British food exports into the EU, which would be a considerable boost to this sector. The downside, however, is that, once again, our fishermen are likely to be sold out by the British Government in order to secure a deal. Moreover, a removal of checks on British food exports to the EU is likely to come at a higher price, namely British agreement to so-called 'dynamic alignment'. This means adopting all new EU regulations with regard to the production and movement of food and food products. Making such an agreement would render it extremely difficult for the UK to forge a full Free Trade Agreement with the United States, since the treatment of US food exports has, all along, been one of the principle sticking points. Furthermore, if we were to agree to 'dynamic alignment' on foodstuffs, we could easily find ourselves pressured into adopting dynamic alignment with regard to all other forms of production and distribution. In that event, we would effectively be back inside the EU's regulatory ambit even though we were no longer a member of the bloc. This would be a betrayal of all those who voted for Brexit since the ability to fashion our own regulatory regime was one of the principle sources of potential gain from leaving the EU. This Government finds it difficult to understand that economic growth is forged by risk-taking businesses, not governments signing agreements and treaties and that over-regulation stifles business. You can see how the changing shape of international relations is pushing the UK closer to Europe in a number of spheres. But the economic urge to align more closely with the EU surely derives from the belief, widely held in the Government and the economic establishment, that Brexit has cost the UK dearly. The number that has somehow become lodged in the collective consciousness is a cost from Brexit to the UK of 4pc of GDP, even though this figure has not been satisfactorily established. Indeed, believing it requires quite a leap of faith. It is striking, for instance, that since Brexit, UK exports to the rest of the world have been just as weak as our exports to the EU. How can this be explained by Brexit? A more likely explanation is that UK exports in general have been damaged by some other factor, probably to do with the sectoral composition of British exports. As the trade expert Phil Radford recently explained in 'Less than Meets the Eye – the Real Impact of Brexit on UK Trade' (published by Policy Exchange), UK exports have been strongly affected by the weakness of its two largest goods export sectors: cars and aerospace. The aerospace industry was devastated by the impact of Covid-19 as orders for aircraft plunged, while the car industry has been going through a period of costly upheaval triggered by net zero. Moreover, Radford also points out the significance of the collapse in exports of clothing and footwear to the EU since our departure. Yet before the fall-off, our production in these sectors was extremely low. In fact, these 'exports' were in reality re-exports of goods that had been imported into the UK for re-export to the Continent, thereby adding virtually nothing to the UK's GDP. This is not to say that I think Brexit has brought the UK decided economic benefits so far. On the contrary, I always thought it likely that there would be some short-term economic loss inflicted by Brexit. And there probably has been – although its quantification is extremely difficult and I suspect the figure of 4pc is much too high. But it must be remembered that Brexit was a once in a generation event. And we only formally left the EU on January 1, 2021, not yet even five years ago. It is really rather early to be attempting an overall assessment, particularly since the political, economic and military scene on the Continent is so uncertain. The UK Government is right to be trying to improve our relations with our close neighbours on defence and related matters. But it must not kid itself into believing that on economic matters the EU is the future. In economic matters, it remains a laggard, dogged by over-regulation, high taxes and out-of-control welfare spending, all of which we should ourselves be trying to escape from. Most importantly, however difficult it may be to do business with Donald Trump's administration, it needs to be remembered that America will still be there long after Trump has left the White House.
Asharq Al-Awsat
18-05-2025
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
What Britain and the EU May Discuss at Monday Summit
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will welcome European Union leaders to London on Monday to help reset relations with the bloc, with both sides aiming to secure progress in some specific areas while other issues will remain off-limits. Below is a list of issues that could be discussed. DEFENSE AND SECURITY PACT Britain's Labour government wants to pursue a defense and security pact that previous Conservative governments opted not to seek when Brexit was first negotiated. Both sides agree it is imperative for Europe to work more closely together on defense, given Russia's invasion of Ukraine and calls by US President Donald Trump for NATO's European members to shoulder more of the burden of the alliance. Britain could try to negotiate access for UK companies to joint defense projects under Security Action For Europe - an EU loan scheme worth 150 billion euros ($168 billion) - and how much it will have to pay for that access. This could also facilitate greater foreign policy co-ordination. But such an agreement may be contingent on other areas such as fish. SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY Labor has positioned a veterinary agreement with the EU that is aimed at preventing unnecessary border checks as central to its planned EU reset. Any deal would maintain high food standards, which Britain also insisted were not lowered in its discussions with the US to remove tariffs. The EU is likely to ask Britain for dynamic alignment with its sanitary and phytosanitary rules and a role for the European Court of Justice, which Starmer could agree to, according to think tank UK in a Changing Europe. The more likely scenario at this summit is that both sides agree on a future framework for negotiations, rather than reach a final agreement. MOBILITY A youth mobility scheme to make it easier for under-30s to travel and work between Britain and the EU is a priority for the bloc. Starmer's government has said this will not be a return to freedom of movement, but to a controlled amount of people, with a likely limit on how many can use it and how long they can stay. Campaign group Best for Britain said two-thirds of Britons support a scheme with a two-year limit. British participation in the Erasmus+ student exchange program could also be discussed in future. And Britain is hoping to secure access to faster e-gates at EU airports for British travelers. FISHERIES Provisions covering fishing and energy are due to expire in 2026, and need to be extended or renegotiated over the next year. The post-Brexit trade agreement transferred existing quotas to the bloc for a transition period, after which they would be negotiated on an annual or multi-annual basis. EU diplomats have said that a fisheries deal should be the same length as any agreement on sanitary and phytosanitary measures, to ensure equal leverage during any renegotiations, while France is pushing for any defense deal to be contingent on a fisheries agreement. Fishing has long been a source of tension. The EU has taken Britain to court over its ban of fishing for sand eels in UK waters. ELECTRICITY Britain left the EU's internal energy market after Brexit, but the UK's energy industry is pushing for more efficient and closer electricity trading arrangements with the bloc. Britain imported around 14% of its electricity in 2024, a record high, through power links with Belgium, Denmark, France and Norway. CARBON MARKETS Many EU and British businesses have called for the EU and UK carbon markets to be linked. They already collaborate on charging power plants and other industrial entities for their carbon emissions to reach climate targets. Industry analysts have said linking the two carbon markets would likely drive up UK prices, which are lower than the EU, to EU levels. But energy firms say it will save costs for consumers, improve market liquidity, and help Britain to avoid penalties under Europe's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which from 2026 will impose fees on EU imports of steel, cement, aluminium, fertilizers, electricity and hydrogen. OTHER AREAS The mutual recognition of certain professional qualifications, changes to ease travel for touring artists, and data-sharing are all areas where Britain and the EU may seek to pursue future agreement.
Telegraph
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Badenoch: I'll reverse Starmer's EU reset if it betrays Brexit
Kemi Badenoch has said she will tear up Sir Keir Starmer's EU reset if it betrays Brexit. The Conservative leader has raised the alarm with the EU's ambassador to Britain about planned concessions on freedom of movement and fisheries, saying: 'I will make it my mission to take back every power he hands over to Brussels.' Mrs Badenoch will meet Pedro Serrano, the bloc's envoy in London, to set out her position on Monday and claim that the Prime Minister's reset 'isn't worth the paper it's written on'. It comes in the run-up to Sir Keir's summit with the EU in London on May 19, which will be the first UK-EU summit of its kind. In a letter to Mr Serrano, seen by The Telegraph, Mrs Badenoch said the Conservatives 'would take back any legislative or judicial powers handed over to the EU by the present government' if returned to power. Emphasising the five tests by which she would judge the Government's EU reset, The Tory leader pledged to reverse any offending elements of the deal if she became prime minister. She wrote: 'It is important that I stress that the next Conservative government under my leadership would not remain bound by terms that failed the five tests set out above, and damaged the interests of the United Kingdom and its people.' The first of Mrs Badenoch's five tests is that there must be no 'backsliding on freedom of movement'. She warned that the Government's planned youth mobility scheme with the EU 'could increase immigration asymmetrically' by allowing a new wave of European migration into the UK. She wrote: 'I am wary of arrangements such as 'youth mobility' or asylum returns agreements that could increase immigration asymmetrically, given our ongoing border challenges. 'It's crucial that any agreements do not exacerbate these pressures, as they would violate the settled principles which the public in the UK voted for in the referendum.' She also told Mr Serrano that concessions on access to Britain's territorial waters in return for defence co-operation with the EU would be 'a betrayal of our fishing industry'. A Conservative Party spokesman said: 'Kemi hopes that pledging to reverse Starmer's EU surrender will send a clear signal to the EU that any lopsided deal they sign with Labour isn't worth the paper it's written on.' Mrs Badenoch told The Telegraph: 'After his Chagos Islands surrender, and the weak deals with India and the US, I don't hold out much hope for Starmer's so-called EU reset. 'Labour have wrecked our economy through Rachel Reeves' punishing jobs tax, and this new EU deal could throw open Britain's doors to millions of young EU workers just as unemployment rises at home. And this on top of a likely sell-out of our fishing industry. 'It's time Keir Starmer shows some strength. An EU deal done out of weakness will make life harder for British families and businesses. If he gets it wrong, I will make it my mission to take back every power he hands over to Brussels. I will always fight for Britain's national interest – not sell it off in a panic.' But Mrs Badenoch stressed that she would not break any diplomatic protocols in her meeting with Mr Serrano, writing: 'It is the prerogative of the democratically elected government to determine the best policies for the country as it sees them. 'The Labour Government will be doing this in all its negotiations and it is the job of the opposition, my job, to hold them to account for their decisions. I do not expect to be discussing any details of negotiations when we meet or break any protocol.'
