Eurocrats ambushed Keir Starmer with 11th-hour demands yesterday ahead of a so-called Brexit ‘surrender summit’ next week.
Officials in Brussels believe the Prime Minister has surrendered more than he needed to in talks – but the bloc is still asking for more.
One EU source said Brussels negotiators had been willing to ‘play ball’ if Sir Keir had asked for a looser trading relationship, known as ‘mutual recognition’.
But the PM has instead promised to shackle Britain much closer to the EU’s rulebook on food standards by ‘dynamically aligning’ with Brussels, potentially hampering the ability to do further or deeper trade deals with other countries such as the US.
The source said: ‘The [European] Commission would have probably played ball on much less alignment than Starmer has ultimately accepted.
‘That came as a surprise to some. He’s gone more New Zealand than Switzerland [in terms of closeness of the relationship].’
It came as a new battleground over student fees opened up as EU diplomats insisted British universities must offer European students the same cheaper fees their UK counterparts enjoy.
UK negotiators have snubbed the demand, pointing out that many British universities are reliant financially on higher international fee rates.
Eurocrats ambushed Keir Starmer with 11th-hour demands yesterday ahead of a so-called Brexit ‘surrender summit’ next week
Officials in Brussels believe the Prime Minister has surrendered more than he needed to in talks – but the bloc is still asking for more
Labour heavyweight Ed Balls attacked Sir Keir’s proposed deal over the youth mobility scheme
However, it is understood that the bloc could demand that Britain rejoins the bloc’s Erasmus student exchange scheme if it won’t budge over fees.
The UK paid about £135million into the scheme annually prior to Brexit.
This request by the EU would be in exchange for reducing trade barriers on food and agriculture products, a key demand of the UK to help boost trade and the economy.
It comes ahead of a UK-EU summit in London on Monday which critics have dubbed the ‘surrender summit’ as it will bring Britain into the closest alignment it has had with the bloc since Brexit.
A new defence and security pact is expected to be the main announcement, with declarations about future relations expected in other areas such as fishing rights, closer trading ties, a youth mobility scheme and energy market co-operation.
Labour heavyweight Ed Balls attacked Sir Keir’s proposed deal over the youth mobility scheme.
Speaking on his Political Currency podcast, he said: ‘If [the Government] do that, that would be a big mistake.
‘I don’t think Keir Starmer can afford to have a tough message on immigration one week and then… they won’t do that.’
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Sir Keir of preparing to ‘trade away our sovereignty behind closed doors’ and is reversing the basic principles of Brexit
Under the proposed scheme, 18 to 30-year-olds would be offered visas to work, study or travel in each others’ countries.
Sir Keir’s proposed deal will also anger Brexiteers in a number of other areas. He has offered to ‘dynamically align’ Britain to the bloc’s rulebook on food standards so that border checks on agricultural and other animal products are reduced.
However, this means European judges will have the final say in any UK-EU trading disputes involving British-made goods.
The PM has also offered to extend current fishing rights for EU trawlers in British waters by another four years in exchange for closer trading ties.
Yesterday, Sir Keir insisted both sides had ‘made good progress and I’m confident we will make really good progress into Monday.’
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Sir Keir of preparing to ‘trade away our sovereignty behind closed doors’ and is reversing the basic principles of Brexit.
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Now Eurocrats are making more demands ahead of Keir Starmer’s Brexit ‘surrender summit’