19-05-2025
UK-EU summit live: Starmer and EU leaders set to agree post-Brexit reset deal
FILE PHOTO: Starmer and von der Leyen in New York, September 25, 2024. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS
The economic benefit of any deal will be limited by Starmer's promise to not rejoin the EU's single market or customs union.
But he has instead sought to negotiate better market access in some areas - a difficult task when the EU opposes so-called "cherry picking" of EU benefits without the obligations of membership.
Removing red tape on food trade will require Britain to accept EU oversight on standards, but Starmer is likely to argue that it is worth it to help lower the cost of food, and grow the sluggish economy.
One trade expert who has advised politicians in both London and Brussels said the government needed to "break the taboo" on accepting EU rules, and doing so to help farmers and small businesses was smart.
Trade experts also said Britain benefited from the greater focus on defence, making the deal look more reciprocal, and said improved ties made sense in a more volatile world.
When "trade disruption is so visible and considerable" anything that reduced trade friction with a country's biggest trading partner made sense, said Allie Renison, a former UK government trade official at consultancy SEC Newgate.
