London and Brussels have agreed a historic post-Brexit reset of relations that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said would be worth £9bn to the UK but which drew instant criticism for keeping British fishing grounds open to EU boats for 12 more years.
The concession on fishing opened the way for a wide-ranging deal including a security and defence pact and the promised removal of much red tape for British farm exports to the EU.
The agreement was scheduled to be unveiled at a London summit on Monday, the first between the two sides since the UK left the bloc in 2020.
Britain had previously proposed an extension of EU access to its fishing grounds of only four to five years. But Starmer’s Labour government agreed to a longer-term deal in return for open-ended provisions to ease UK food products’ entry into the EU.
A senior EU official said the agreement marked a “new chapter” in the bloc’s relationship with the UK, while Starmer hailed it as a “common sense, practical” solution that moved on from the “stale old debates” about Brexit.
UK food and drink exports to the EU, a far bigger sector than the politically charged fisheries industry, were £14bn in 2024, according to the Food and Drink Federation, the industry lobby.
Starmer said that together with a plan to link the UK and EU’s carbon emissions trading systems, the exports deal in a proposed veterinary agreement would bring £9bn of economic benefit to Britain.
However, the concession on fishing prompted fierce criticism from Conservatives and the industry.
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said the deal was “very concerning”, noting that the UK had previously offered in negotiations to extend fishing rights to boats from France and other coastal states for only four years.
Elspeth Macdonald, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, said: “This deal is a horror show for Scottish fishermen,” adding that it was “far worse” than the previous post-Brexit deal by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, the pro-Brexit party that won local elections this month, described the deal as a “betrayal”.
However, Jonathan Reynolds, UK business secretary, said the fishing sector would benefit from the promised veterinary deal, arguing that it would help it sell fish and shellfish to the EU. “It’s not just about what you catch but who you’re going to sell it to,” he said.
The government has responded by providing £360mn for fishers and tourism in coastal areas.
Economists at Aston University have estimated that UK agrifood exports to the EU could be boosted by more than 20 per cent as a result of a vet deal.
By contrast, the UK fishing industry accounts for only about 0.03 per cent of Britain’s national output.
Monday’s deal could also boost the UK defence industry. A defence partnership could give it access to a €150bn fund of cheap loans backed by the EU budget, subject to further talks.
Both sides were locked in intense haggling through the night over details of their revamped relationship, including on fisheries and food trade, along with wording about a proposed youth mobility scheme.
Starmer successfully argued that the two sides should carry on talking about the youth scheme — including the possibility of Britain returning to the Erasmus student exchange programme — rather than make concrete commitments at the summit at Lancaster House.
EU diplomats said that the final text said the two sides would “work towards” a deal on improved youth mobility, heralding months of negotiations. They described it as a disappointing outcome but acknowledged that Starmer was under huge domestic pressure on migration.
“There was a late breakthrough last night,” one British official said after the UK and EU member states agreed a deal ahead of the first summit between the two sides since Brexit took effect in 2020.
Ambassadors from the 27 member states met early on Monday to sign off on the package, even as leaders of the EU institutions headed for London to formally agree it.
Starmer also signed the defence pact and a communiqué promising deeper economic co-operation during a two-hour meeting with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president António Costa.
That agreement will open the door to Britain gaining access to a €150bn EU weapons fund, although the precise details will be hammered out at a later stage.
The EU-UK summit is expected to emphasise a spirit of reconciliation, but the tense talks in Brussels on Sunday were a reminder that the relationship is now highly transactional.
Details of the EU-UK deal are very politically sensitive. Badenoch has said Starmer is about to “surrender” British interests, including agreeing to become a “rule-taker” from Brussels.
Britain has conceded that removing barriers to trade in foodstuffs will require the UK to “dynamically align”, or stay in step, with EU regulations as they change — and also make payments to the bloc to fund work on food and animal standards.
Source link
