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EU parents support app store parental approval*

Three out of four parents support a law requiring parental approval for teens under 16 to download an app (*survey of parents by Morning Consult across France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, Ireland, The Netherlands and Denmark).

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LONDON – The three agreements unveiled by the EU and UK in London today amount to a gilded to-do list. But Keir Starmer’s ‘reset’ summit was only ever about symbolism, not fish or farming. 

None of the pre-deals announced today will winch the once regnant Britannia back up the economic slipway down which she slides – into literally shit-infested waters. Nor will another statement of European defence solidarity see Vladimir Putin lose sleep. But nobody still paying attention to the post-Brexit relationship expected such miracles.

So what cause did Ursula von der Leyen and the British prime minister have to be so jubilant as they left Lancaster House?

For one, the programme for future trade talks is sensible – and therefore indicative of a page turned. A pledge to link emissions trading schemes heralds the end of the British pursuit of regulatory divergence for divergence’s sake. Alignment of agrifood standards means the UK crosses the Rubicon on rule-taking from Brussels and its courts. Both have been utterly poisonous to progress. Starmer has, to his credit, consigned both to the Downing Street dustbin. 

Also telling is the cautious optimism of EU officials who, for old times’ sake, were re-debating and re-drafting this reset overnight until the last available moment. 

Even thornier issues await them, some of whom are nigh on a decade at the table. The next reset should probably include personnel. The veteran head of the Commission’s team for the trade deal has moved on. More fresh faces – less weary of past British transgressions and less repulsed by the soggy Exki sandwiches served for lunch day after day in the negotiating ‘tunnel’ – should bring fresh impetus, even goodwill. 

Of course, goodwill will primarily come from having a more honest interlocutor in London. Starmer’s unpopular government has spent much of this month overselling wafer-thin trade deals, with pacts with the US and India accompanied by dizzying spin. He disappointed EU diplomats with his premature acclamation of a deal well done on Saturday. 

But behind the pomp and photo-ops, the ceremonial facade couldn’t cover the reality of how strained the relationship has been. The reset only “begins to arrest that decline”, the British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told a small group of foreign press, including Euractiv, after the summit. 

Perhaps Labour fears a Nigel Farage-led backlash should they court Brussels too enthusiastically. Or perhaps they’ve realised that repairing ties severed by a once-in-a-generation decision might well take another generation to do properly.

Given Starmer’s political demeanour, the smart money’s on the former. But if it’s the latter, the three bits of paper produced today could be worth plenty more than their scantiness suggests. 

Roundup
The EU-UK win-win –The EU and UK signed on Monday a security pact and agreed on a ‘reset’ deal that includes commitments on food trade, energy and mobility.

Sunday election highs and lows – Pro-EU candidates emerged victorious on Sunday in three bellwether elections in Romania, Portugal and the first round of Poland’s presidential race.

€150 bn for joint defence procurement – EU countries agreed on a final version of a €150 billion loan plan aimed at boosting joint European defence procurement.

Across Europe

UK media reacts to EU rapprochement – The UK’s right-wing media wasted no time in bashing the deal agreed by centre-left Prime Minister Keir Starmer. It made for entertaining reading.

Public sector strike in Belgium – Public transport in Brussels will be “severely” disrupted this Tuesday as public sector workers once more march against spending cuts.

Meloni the “bridge-builder” – Giorgia Meloni held a meeting in Rome on Sunday with JD Vance and Ursula von der Leyen, marking the first official US-EU leadership meeting since Donald Trump took office.

Limiting child access to social media – Spain, Greece and France are pushing the European Commission to swiftly introduce an EU-wide age verification system and set a minimum age for social media access. This would restrict access to dubious and addictive content.