Deal with EU will make food cheaper and add £9bn to UK economy, says No 10

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/19/deal-with-eu-will-make-food-cheaper-and-add-9bn-to-uk-economy-says-no-10

by ConsciousStop

33 comments

  1. > Agreement reached to ‘slash red tape’ on food products, in exchange for extended EU access to fishing waters
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    > A deal clinched between the UK and EU to remove checks on agrifoods will add £9bn to the UK economy and lower food prices, No 10 has said, as the last-minute agreement was clinched early on Monday morning.
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    > The deal – which will grant EU fishers access to British waters for an additional 12 years – will remove checks on a significant number of food products as well as a deeper defence partnership and agreements on carbon taxes.
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    > The UK said the deal would make “food cheaper, slash red tape, open up access to the EU market”. But the trade-off for the deal was fishing access and rights for an additional 12 years – more than the UK had offered – which is likely to lead to cries of betrayal from the industry.
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    > Officials have hit back at the criticism, arguing that the food standards deal will have huge benefit for fish and seafood exports.
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    > The two sides will also begin talks for a “youth experience scheme”, first reported in the Guardian, which could allow young people to work and travel freely in Europe again and mirror existing schemes the UK has with countries such as Australia and New Zealand.
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    > The UK said it would be “capped and time-limited”, though there is no agreement yet from the EU on the details.
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    > Keir Starmer and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, shook hands on the reset deal at Lancaster House just hours after negotiators finished the final three texts.
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    > “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. “We’re ready to work with partners if it means we can improve people’s lives here at home. So that’s what this deal is all about – facing out into the world once again, in the great tradition of this nation. Building the relationships we choose, with the partners we choose, and closing deals in the national interest. Because that is what independent, sovereign nations do.”
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    > Central to the agreement is the new agrifoods deal, known as an SPS agreement, which removes red tape on food and drink exports, removing some routine checks on animal and plant products completely. In return, the UK will accept some dynamic alignment on EU food standards and a role for the European court of justice in policing the deal.
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    > The deal will not be time-limited, as had originally been demanded by the EU. It was for this that the UK made a major concession for a longer-term deal on fishing, extending the current access for European fishing to UK waters until 2038, having originally offered until 2030. The original trade deal with the EU had suggested there would be annual negotiations from 2026, but the government said this fixed deal would give certainty.
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    > A UK government official said the deal for the UK fishing industry was about “protecting their rights and long-term security instead of the merry-go-round of yearly renegotiations that would never plausibly see EU boats leave UK waters”.
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    > The government said it would put £360m of modernisation support back into coastal communities as part of the deal, a tacit acknowledgment of the concession.
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    > But UK officials said the SPS deal would be a major win for British consumers and should lead to lower food prices and more choice in the supermarkets.
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    > It will mean certain products are allowed to be sold in the EU for the first time since Brexit, such as some burgers and sausages, after the 21% drop in exports and 7% drop in imports seen since Brexit.
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    > Another agreement reached before the Lancaster House summit will be on linking emissions trading, which the UK said would avoid businesses being hit by the EU’s carbon tax due to come in next year.
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    > The deal also protects British steel imports from new EU tariffs through a bespoke arrangement, saving about £25m a year.
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    > British holidaymakers will also be able to use European gates at airports, ending long holiday queues to use the gates for non-European citizens, and pet passports will be introduced to eliminate the need for animal health checks on each trip.
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    > The UK will also now enter formal talks on a number of key topics, including a youth mobility deal, to grant visas for younger Britons and Europeans as well as re-entry to the Erasmus scheme.
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    > There will be future talks, too, on access to the EU facial recognition data, a key ask of Starmer as a way of tackling cross-border crime and people-trafficking gangs.
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    > But there will be no immediate entry for the UK to the EU’s €150bn defence fund to allow UK arms companies to bid for contracts – though the UK said the deal struck on Monday would pave the way for that to happen in the coming months.
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    > The UK’s chief negotiator, Nick Thomas-Symonds, the cabinet office minister, said: “Today is a historic day, marking the opening of a new chapter in our relationship with the EU that delivers for working people across the UK.
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    > “Since the start of these negotiations, we have worked for a deal to make the British people safer, more secure and more prosperous. Our new UK-EU Strategic Partnership achieves all three objectives. It delivers on jobs, bills and borders. “Today is a day of delivery. Britain is back on the world stage with a government in the service of working people.”

  2. It better work on food, I’ve seen some fresh meat items jumping up by over £1 in a week each at our local. We’ve seen the steady increase on food shops for a while now, but nothing quite that drastic in the span of 7 days.

    I know the “but historically our grocceries are cheaper” hammer comes out to bludgeon such thinking lately, but that ignores the context of what we pay in other bills VS europe: Almost double in some cases.

  3. I said the same in another sub, but it’s very impressive he was able to get this without a Youth Mobility scheme. 

    I know they’ve both agreed to ‘work towards one in future’, but up until now the EU were stating this was a prerequisite before any agreement could even begin. 

  4. Will it make food cheaper or will it just increase profits for the big companies that produce our food and the supermarkets?

  6. It was always going to be an obvious win for any political party. You hurt the economy via Brexit giving a party the chance to grow the economy by reentering or striking this kind of deal.

    In 4 years time, I’ll be amazed if the brexit voters even remember that this deal happened and if by then, starmer achieved economic growth and improved the main issues people have, it won’t matter.

  7. Wow, every comment here pooing on it, wonder why? kek

  8. Watching the conference and the fixation on fishing (and the language used by British journalists) is just depressing. Chris Mason, the supposedly neutral Political Editor of the BBC asking if the deal has “sold out” British fishermen. What an absolute joke.

  9. Tomorrow’s headlines: 

    “Starmer’s EU deal will lead to obesity crisis as Brits gorge on cheap food”

    “Shady Eurocrats to give dodgy Starmer 9 billion quid.”

    “Does kier starmer punch kittens in the face?”

  10. I eagerly await the reaction of The Telegraph, the Daily Mail, The Sun, and The Daily Express. And how this is a betrayal of Brexit, despite them not defining what this Brexit is for 9 years, and for the previous 40 years before it.

  11. Looks great on paper. Let’s just leave it awhile to see if it sours first or not.

  12. Lot of comments on here want to see this as a betrayal or useless.

    If supermarkets in the UK choose to not pass on their savings to customers then they’ll lose those customers to Aldo – who will absolutely revel in loudly cutting their costs for meat etc.

    And re: fisheries access : it’s a multi year continuation of the existing deal, it’s nothing different to what is already in place.
    If you don’t like the deal already in place, fine that’s your prerogative. But don’t act like this is new.

  13. Jesus Christ there are an awful lot of people who have absolutely no fucking clue about the most basic economics, but still choose to comment on these kinds of matters.

    The supermarket industry in this country is incredibly competitive. Lower food costs for them will result in lower prices for us, *all else staying the same*. This is because they’ll realise that lowering prices will attract more customers (if their rivals don’t), and increase total profits.

  14. Great. Now how much would be added to the economy if billionaires paid their taxes?

  15. Might make the government money but cheaper food will just be an added profit for the supermarkets I don’t expect anything to get Cheaper it never does

  16. I don’t think anyone can deny that Starmer is a damn good negotiatior. This deal is nothing short of a positive and a win for us here in the UK. What he’s doing internally is very hit and miss, but dealing with other nations and bodies, he’s smashing it atm.

  17. Just waiting for the negative headline to counter this one.

    “Starmer makes the country fatter with cheap food!”

  18. Or make it cheaper for stores to buy but sell at the exact same prices to customers more likely

  19. Why does everything seem to revolve around fishing when it’s an economic rounding error?

  22. Foods no gonna be cheaper it’s just go up a little slower for a few months then go up a lot again

  23. I’m pretty sure our supermarkets are making profit record profits quarter after quarter for the last 4+ years. Just regulate that bullshit no?

  24. Why? Because you agreed to import cheaper EU food over Uk produced food?

  25. If he can genuinely get a grip on immigration, then he has a great chance to get another 4 years in power.

  26. I can wholeheartedly guarantee you now food prices will not go down what so ever. It may make it cheaper for the corporations but those savings will not be given to us mere peasants. They have record breaking profit margins to beat this year remember.

  27. None of this will be enough for the anti EU/ right wingers. Starmer could add 50 billion to our economy, and he’d still be labelled as a traitor. People saying he’s betrayed brexit is ridiculous nonsense.

  28. I for one am looking forwards to once again having all aspects of our lives governed by our EU overlords /s

    Seriously though, well done Starmer and the Government for negotiating what looks to be a sensible agreement which will benefit both sides, rather than a pyrrhic victory for the Brexiteers. 

  29. That sounds like a political lie! Have they consulted and agreed with the importers, a d sellers of food or are they just word salading the general public like they did during the COVID lockdown?

  30. Will it make food grown and supplied in the UK cheaper too, as that’s gone up a fuck ton for no discernable reason what so ever.

  31. Fucking labour, getting things done and not being sucked into silly culture wars.

  32. He’s doing well globally, but domestically he’s not doing well at all.

  33. I’ll find it funny that once we left the EU, Farming struggled because it severely reduced export options while shops and bakeries were still importing EU goods while farmers voted for it thinking it’d let them strong arm supermarkets into paying whatever they wanted, and now they’re tryna say Starmer has betayed farming like this doesn’t stop the slow bleeding of the farming industry by making it easier to export again.

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