EU member states could demand assurances on fishing rights before opening the door to closer security and economic ties with the UK, according to diplomatic sources.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Brussels on Monday in another display of political will to deepen relations with European counterparts as part of his touted post-Brexit “reset”.
The informal European Council summit that he’s attending marks the first time a British leader has joined all 27 EU leaders since the UK formally severed its ties with the bloc five years ago.
Starmer is also due to meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Monday’s talks are expected to focus on the “broad political objectives” of the “reset” in EU-UK ties which Starmer has promised, according to an EU diplomat.
Starmer’s Labour government, elected last July after 14 years in opposition, has improved the mood music between the EU and UK, but its tangible plans for closer cooperation remain uncertain.
The prime minister has prioritised a broad-ranging “security pact”, touching on areas like defence, migration, energy security and critical raw materials, and vowed to smooth out barriers to trade.
EU officials welcome London’s attempts at rapprochement, but there are indications member states will look to defend their own interests in future bilateral negotiations, expected to kick off after an EU-UK summit planned for spring.
An EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested that at least two member states will seek assurances on fishing rights as a pre-condition to any agreement.
“There are many different ‘buckets’ in the negotiations,” the diplomat said, naming a veterinary agreement that would slash barriers to trade, a youth mobility deal, energy cooperation and fishing rights as some of the many issues on the negotiating table.
“Of course there is an interlink between all of them because at the end of the day that relationship is a package,” the diplomat added. “There is no beating around the bush, fisheries is also very important. There is no direct trade-off between one or the other but the Commission will have to keep a parallel between these different buckets.”
‘UK wants both Washington and Brussels on its side’
The Brexit deal, known as the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), ensures mutual access for UK and EU fishers in each other’s waters until June 2026, but fishing rights after that date are yet to be negotiated.
The EU is mounting a legal challenge to a recent UK government ban on European vessels from fishing for sand eels in its waters on environmental grounds, a decision Brussels says unfairly discriminates against Danish fishers.
It is the first arbitration case under the Brexit agreement and highlights the symbolic importance of fishing in the post-Brexit tussle between the EU and the UK, despite it representing a small fraction of each side’s economies.
A youth mobility deal, which the EU executive proposed negotiating in April last year, is also among one of the EU’s core demands.
The agreement would make it easier for 18- to 30-year-old Brits and Europeans to move across the UK-EU border to study, work and live, and could pave the way for the UK to re-join the Erasmus scheme.
ADVERTISEMENTBut Labour has dismissed it in the past as treading too close to a return to free movement, something that is still unpalatable for swathes of the British electorate. The Labour-led government is nonetheless considered to be eyeing a deal to relieve the administrative demands on performing artists touring in the EU and the UK and mutually recognise professional qualifications.
Speaking to Euronews, political analyst Peter Kellner said that the UK’s strength in defence and security — as a nuclear power and a sophisticated armed force — could give it negotiating power while seeking better access to the EU market.
“I would imagine defence and security to be the cards the UK could play to get the EU to engage in a more serious discussion about closer trade,” Kellner said.
The potential that US President Donald Trump may expand trade tariffs to target Europe and water down Washington’s support to Ukraine could also force both sides to accelerate talks and put their differences aside.
ADVERTISEMENTTrump’s pivot to Asia and aggressive policy of trade protectionism is making the UK’s “global Britain” strategy look increasingly fragile and could force it to inject urgency into efforts to tighten trade ties with the EU.
“The UK wants both Washington and Brussels on its side,” Kellner explained. “But there also may well be future issues, such as Trump’s threats to seize Greenland, where the UK is forced to take sides.”
“That could prove a critical moment for this UK government that could have deep implications for the rest of this parliament, and possibly beyond that, as to Britain’s place in the world.”
