The United Kingdom and the European Union are closer to concluding the first big deal after the Brexit agreement, the British media write. Their information was confirmed and supplemented at the first UK–EU summit in London. The British are ready to make concessions. The parties will be able to avoid annual negotiations on new conditions for the use of British waters by European fishing vessels for 12 years. The country’s Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has taken another important step – facilitating access to the UK for students from EU countries. In exchange, the British and the EU will strengthen security cooperation.
Ardent supporters of independence from Brussels were outraged by the news of the agreements on the eve of the summit. For example, the head of the Reformist Party, Nigel Farage, said that the fishing deal would lead to the “end of the fishing industry” in the country, while the Tories said that Labour’s concessions looked like “complete capitulation.”
However, the British population as a whole does not agree with conservatives of various stripes who are ready to criticize on any occasion. Throughout the period after the country’s withdrawal from the European Union, an increasing number of Britons realized that Brexit was nothing more than a mistake that cost the country billions of dollars in financial losses.
Therefore, on the eve of the summit in London, which began on Monday, the media expected progress in the negotiations. And it happened, and in the most unexpected part. The fact is that the most innocuous point of Brussels’ demands seemed to be easier access to the UK for students and qualified specialists. However, it is precisely on this topic that the experienced lawyer and former Attorney General Starmer has had more complaints about representatives of the European Union in recent months.
And London decided to give in on a much more significant issue for the supporters of Brexit and defenders of sovereignty from the encroachments of Brussels.
The British government and the EU have been unable to resolve the issue of using British water resources for years.
Fishing in the North Sea is one of the cornerstones of EU membership in principle. For example, Norway is by no means going to be under the control of Brussels in this area, as well as in the field of mining. As a result, London negotiates fishing with Oslo separately.
The summit in London was attended by the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Council, Antonio Costa, and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaya Kallas. This is the first event of this scale after the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. Standing on the podium with von der Leyen and Costa, the British Prime Minister confirmed the existence of agreements on fishing. He said that relations between London and Brussels are entering a “new era.”
Costa also confirmed that the parties will now meet every year in the current format.
The agreement, which representatives of the EU and Starmer are ready to sign, includes issues of energy, global development, as well as security. And later it turned out that the issue of student exchange was also resolved. This was announced by von der Leyen.
However, the key achievement of London should be recognized as the strengthening of cooperation in the defense sector. In particular, the country claims part of the financing from the EU-created defense fund of 150 billion euros.
“Immediately after winning the election, Starmer announced his desire to reset relations, but it quickly became clear that he did not want to do this at the cost of major concessions. The unity of the UK and the EU in supporting Ukraine and the coming to power of Donald Trump in the United States helped change the opinion,” said Lyudmila Babynina, head of the Center for Political Integration at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In a conversation with NG, the expert noted that the strengthening of security contacts between the parties would relate to military affairs, cyber threats, and migration.
“In addition, the trade in products will be facilitated. London promises to follow phytosanitary standards. This, as well as solving the difficult issue of fishing, is criticized by conservatives, but it is still rather an achievement of Starmer, despite the fact that fish exports to EU countries are an important source of income for Britain,” Babynina believes.
However, she stressed that problematic issues remain. There is still no full-fledged return to student exchange under the Erasmus program. There are also difficulties in ensuring the rights of EU citizens who have remained in the UK since the country’s withdrawal from the community.
“The latter causes particular irritation to the European Commission and leads to lawsuits, because it is the issue of ensuring rights that is key to its activities. The issue of Gibraltar has not been resolved, although it is being actively worked out,” Babynina explains.