Latest news with #UKEU
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
EU deal shows Labour is getting on with the job while others moan, says MSP
Many readers will be aware of the groundbreaking trade agreement between the new United Kingdom Government and the European Union. With it came a major step towards resetting the UK's relationship with Europe and clearing up the previous government's mess in relation to Brexit. This development follows similar agreements with the US and India. All good news for Inverclyde which is a major hub for Scotland's exports. The new UK-EU trade deal will make it easier for Scottish businesses to trade with European countries while also improving our defence capability and strengthening our borders. But it is likely to bring real, tangible benefits to people's personal lives too. For example, supermarkets such as Morrisons have said that the deal has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of the weekly shop. Holiday-makers travelling to Europe will also be able to use e-Gates – ending those lengthy queues at passport control. And with more cooperation between the UK and the EU on energy, the deal will help to drive down energy bills in the long term. This agreement is aimed at rebuilding our economy and has rightly received overwhelming support from Scottish industry. Unfortunately Scottish First Minister John Swinney, UK Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage all appear to oppose it. And while I am disappointed by the Scottish Government's lack of support, I am not surprised by it. The fact is that John Swinney's government has developed a habit of complaining from the sidelines while the new UK Government gets on with the job. The only thing the Scottish Government seemed to have done to improve relations with our EU neighbours is to overlook Inverclyde jobs and industry by sending ferry contracts to Poland. On the other hand, this new UK-EU deal is a serious move by a UK Government that is serious about rebuilding our country's economy and our friendships with partners abroad. And this action is bearing fruit with the positive news that the UK had the fast growing economy in the G7 for the first three months of 2025. Long may it continue.
Russia Today
21-05-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
EU agrees €150 billion militarization plan
EU ambassadors have approved a €150 billion ($169 billion) debt program to provide for the bloc's rapid militarization efforts. The passing of the so-called SAFE (Support for Ammunition, military Financing and European defense) initiative was first announced on Wednesday by the Polish presidency of the EU Council. The agreement will allow EU states to bypass standard voting procedures in the European Parliament to allow members leverage low-interest debt to spend on military equipment including drones, ammunition and air defense systems. Non-EU countries, including the UK and Ukraine will also be able to participate in the program. Some member states have also been considering using the loans to provide additional military assistance to Kiev, Euronews has reported. At least 65% of the components for any weapon systems must be produced within the EU, Ukraine or the European Economic Area/European Free Trade Association. The other 35% can come from third countries. The new debt plan comes as a number of EU states, such as France, Germany and Belgium, have cut spending on social support programs, citing budget deficits and rising debt. Announcing the passing of SAFE, the Polish presidency account on X stated that it is 'first major EU programme to increase investment in European defense capabilities,' adding that it would enter into force after being formally adopted by the EU Council on May 27. The new debt-for-militarization scheme comes as Western European leaders push for reducing dependence on US weapons and called for increased military spending, justifying it by a supposed threat being posed by Russia. Moscow has repeatedly condemned the EU's increasing militarization and has dismissed claims that it plans to attack the bloc as 'nonsense,' accusing the West of 'irresponsibly stoking fears' of a fabricated threat. Russian officials have also warned that the EU's military spending hikes amount to an 'incitement of war on the European continent.' Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has also claimed that the bloc 'has degraded into an openly militarized entity.'
Times of Oman
20-05-2025
- Business
- Times of Oman
UK, EU agree on several deals at London summit
London: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is hosting the leadership of the European Union (EU) at a summit in London on Monday, and has inked agreements calling for deepening defense and trade ties. Starmer's office said Monday that the agreements were aimed at slashing red tape and growing the British economy. "This is the first UK-EU summit," Starmer told reporters on Monday. "It marks a new era in our relationship, and this deal is a win-win." An agreement on fisheries allows EU fishermen to have access to British waters for an extended period of 12 years in exchange for the EU indefinitely easing red tape on food and drink imports and exports. The eased customs checks on food and plant products are expected to add "nearly 9 billion pounds" ($12 billion/€10.7 billion) to the British economy by 2040, Starmer's office said in a statement. Downing Street also said a new defense and security pact with the EU deal "will pave the way" for the UK defense industry "to participate" in a €150 billion ($167-billion) defenCe fund being set up by the EU. The UK government added the agreements included a "youth experience scheme" and more access for British passport holders to automated controls at EU borders. What is behind revamped EU-UK cooperation? Since taking office in July 2024, Starmer has pushed for what he calls a "reset" of ties with the EU. Monday's summit, hosting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa and EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas, is the first of its kind in what the UK leader hopes will be annual summits working towards more formal cross-channel integration. "It's time to look forward. To move on from the stale old debates and political fights to find common sense, practical solutions, which get the best for the British people," Starmer said as the summit got underway on Monday. Von der Leyen called the new agreements a "success" and "an historic moment." Since the UK formally left the EU in 2020 after the Brexit referendum in 2016, ties have mostly been governed under a "Trade and Cooperation Agreement" (TCA) negotiated by former conservative PM Boris Johnson and signed in December 2020. Starmer, who had opposed Brexit from the center-left Labour party, has said ties can be improved to boost the UK economy and bolster security. The TCA is up for review in 2026, and deals on topics like fisheries are due to expire. Since Brexit, common challenges facing the UK and EU include Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine and a more isolationist and tariff-ready US policy under President Donald Trump. Sticking points on fishing rights, youth mobility Fishing rights and youth mobility were sticking points in negotiations, with wrangling on details likely to continue beyond Monday. EU officials speaking off the record to news agencies ahead of the summit said the bloc's member states green lit a "common understanding" with the UK on trade, fishing and youth mobility. Fishing rights have been a constant sore spot in UK negotiations with the EU, with reports indicating that talks dragged on late Sunday night to hash out an agreement before Monday's summit. Conservative opponents have said continuing to allow EU boats in British waters is a "surrender" to the EU that will harm local fisheries. On the youth mobility agreement, Reuters news agency reported that the wording leaves the door open for more negotiation. A pre-print seen by Reuters said the UK and EU "should work towards a balanced youth experience scheme on terms to be mutually agreed." Detractors in the UK are concerned an agreement on youth mobility could open the door to the return of freedom of movement between the EU and UK. Starmer's move towards more integration with the EU has drawn criticism from conservatives and the far-right. In its election manifesto last year, Labour promised that it wouldn't rejoin the EU's single market and customs union, and free movement of people and goods. In August 2024, Starmer said revamping agreements with the EU "does not mean reversing Brexit or re-entering the single market or the customs union."
BreakingNews.ie
20-05-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Starmer insists EU deal is ‘looking forward to tomorrow' amid fishing criticism
The UK and EU are 'looking forward to tomorrow' and not re-litigating Brexit, Keir Starmer said, as he defended a new trade deal with Brussels. The Prime Minister hailed his deal with the bloc, set out at a Monday summit in London, as a 'win-win' for both parties, which would be the start of a 'new era' in the UK-EU relationship. Advertisement The wide-ranging deal will allow more British travellers to use passport e-gates when going on holiday to Europe, while farmers will get swifter, easier access to trade on the continent as a result of an agreement on animal and plant product standards. A 'youth experience scheme' allowing young Britons to study and live in Europe, and a new security and defence partnership were also agreed. The Government claimed the post-Brexit 'reset' will cut red tape for travellers and businesses, boosting the UK economy by £9 billion (€10.69 billion) by 2040. But it has been met with criticism after agreeing to grant European fishing trawlers a further 12 years' access to British waters. Advertisement Speaking in the garden of Downing Street, where he welcomed UK and EU businesses on Monday evening, the Prime Minister insisted the deal was 'good for bills, good for jobs, good for borders'. He also hailed a 'mood change' in the relationship with the bloc, adding: 'The EU and the UK wanting to work together, all of us prepared to say let yesterday be yesterday, we are looking forward to tomorrow. 'We are not going to litigate old arguments, we are going to go forward in the spirit of what we do together, we do better.' The PM hit out at the 'myth that next year everybody was free to do what they like' if he had not extended the fishing deal with the EU. Advertisement Mr Starmer was earlier accused by the Conservatives of having 'surrendered' many of the gains they negotiated post-Brexit. Conservative ministers accused Mr Starmer of having 'surrendered' many of the gains negotiated following Brexit (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Kemi Badenoch added: 'This deal will mean Britain becoming a rule-taker, accepting dynamic alignment, giving up fishing rights and paying new money to the EU.' 'Nobody has lost more than the fishermen,' as a result of the deal she also told reporters. Reform UK's Nigel Farage elsewhere warned the 12-year fishing deal would be 'the end of the fishing industry'. Advertisement Chancellor Rachel Reeves told the BBC that the UK was in a 'better place than any country in the world' on trade. 'The first deal and the best deal so far with the US, we've got the best deal with the EU for any country outside the EU, and we've got the best trade agreement with India,' she said. 'Not only are these important in their own right, but it also shows that Britain now is the place for investment and business, because we've got preferential deals with the biggest economies around the world.' Other measures covered in the UK-EU deal include: Advertisement – British burgers and sausages will once more be allowed into the EU, and some routine checks on plant and animal products will be removed completely. – Linking UK and EU emissions-trading schemes, which will mean British firms will not be hit by Brussels's carbon tax next year. – A commitment to work towards the UK associating with the Erasmus+ student exchange programme. – British steel exports will be protected from new EU rules and restrictive tariffs, saving the beleaguered industry £25 million.
Times
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
The prime minister was thrilled to be in Brussels' cleavage
The French like to call this sort of thing déjà vu, which I think loosely translates as PTSD flashback. Why was it happening? Hadn't whole elections been fought and won on a promise to make all this go away? 'Get Brexit done.' Please just make it stop? Remember that? And yet here, in the year of our lord 2025, was a British prime minister, standing between two grands fromages from Brussels, announcing some sort of UK-EU trade deal. There was Sir Keir Starmer, behind his lectern in Lancaster House. To the right of him, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission and part-time German Hillary Clinton tribute act. To the right, António Costa, president of the European Council, which is different, but just
