Tuesday 20 / May / 2025
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."
