{"id":105971,"date":"2025-05-16T10:01:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T10:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/105971\/"},"modified":"2025-05-16T10:01:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T10:01:08","slug":"eu-uk-relations-a-reset-hungarian-conservative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/105971\/","title":{"rendered":"EU\u2013UK Relations: A \u2018Reset\u2019? – Hungarian Conservative"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the 2024 general election in the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer made a campaign promise to \u2018reset\u2019 the UK\u2019s relationship with the European Union. In its manifesto, Labour pledged<\/a> to negotiate with the EU to reduce trade barriers, border checks on agri-foods and work towards a mutual recognition agreement for professional qualifications. In the 2024 general election, the Conservative Party, which initiated Brexit in 2016 and completed the UK\u2019s withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020, suffered a historic defeat to Labour. Since the beginning of Labour\u2019s mandate in July 2024, there have already been over 70 engagements between UK ministers and their EU counterparts\u2014Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also personally met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in October 2024.<\/p>\n

Since the United Kingdom left the EU under a democratic mandate, the Labour leadership rules out rejoining the EU as part of \u2018resetting\u2019 relations with Brussels. Similarly, joining the single market, the customs union or signing up for the EU\u2019s four freedoms were also ruled out as \u2018red lines\u2019 by His Majesty\u2019s Government. An EU\u2013UK \u2018reset\u2019 should not violate the will of the people as expressed during the Brexit referendum; nevertheless, negotiating some form of economic cooperation with the EU is possible, and it could potentially be beneficial for both the UK and EU member states.<\/p>\n

\n

\u2018Reaching an agreement between London and Brussels is far from easy\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Reaching an agreement between London and Brussels is far from easy, however. One of the primary goals of the EU during the \u2018reset\u2019 negotiations with Starmer\u2019s government is to extend the deal\u2014negotiated with great difficulty during the UK\u2019s withdrawal\u2014on fishing. During the withdrawal negotiations, the UK agreed to grant access to EU member state fishers in its fishing waters. The transitory period outlined in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement is set to expire in 2026, so Brussels is now using the Starmer government\u2019s openness to engage in talks to secure the EU\u2019s access to UK waters even after 2026. Brussels is also committed to a UK\u2013EU youth mobility scheme that would enable 18- to 30-year-olds to travel between Britain and the continent (or even live abroad for a couple of years) with ease. The youth mobility proposal, however, had been rejected earlier<\/a> by both Labour and Conservatives, as it would mean (if only partially so) for the UK to accept the EU\u2019s rules on free movement.<\/p>\n

While discussions on the youth mobility scheme and fisheries are not yet resolved, next Monday\u2019s EU\u2013UK summit is expected to deliver closer defence cooperation between Brussels and London\u2014aligning with two of the three objectives outlined by Minister for EU Relations Nick Thomas-Symonds, identified as the \u2018substance of the reset<\/a>\u2019:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Foreign and security cooperation with the EU<\/li>\n
  2. Law enforcement cooperation (eg, counter-terror operations and organized crime)<\/li>\n
  3. Easing trade restrictions<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    On Monday, 19 May, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to sign a strategic partnership agreement with the European Union. The agreement is likely to focus primarily on defence, while also including provisions to hold annual summits between the EU and the UK to improve bilateral relations. The EU\u2019s High Representative Kaja Kallas, as well as Council President Ant\u00f3nio Costa, have already confirmed their participation in the summit. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are also expected to meet on Monday in London<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    On the one hand, enhanced defence cooperation between the EU and the UK, which strengthens Europe\u2019s own defence infrastructure, is an idea welcomed in Central and Eastern European capitals as well. As part of the defence cooperation, the UK might become a partner in the EU\u2019s Security Action for Europe (SAFE), a 150 billion EUR fund that helps member states invest in key defence areas. While the UK\u2019s participation in SAFE might contribute to (re)building a strong European arms industry, Brexiteers fear that it would lead to an outcome they feared most during the withdrawal negotiations: a requirement to financially contribute, but without having a say<\/a> in how the EU uses and allocates funds.<\/p>\n

    \n

    \u2018Monday\u2019s agreement will renew the EU\u2019s and the UK\u2019s readiness to \u201cexert pressure on Russia\u201d\u2019 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    On the other hand, from Budapest\u2019s point of view, the primary aim of the EU\u2013UK defence team-up should not be to support Ukraine, circumventing the US peace efforts. A draft reviewed by Reuters<\/a> suggests that Monday\u2019s agreement will renew the EU\u2019s and the UK\u2019s readiness to \u2018exert pressure on Russia\u2019 and continue \u2018support for Ukraine\u2019. Since 2022, the UK has been committed to supporting Kyiv \u2018for as long as\u2019 it is needed\u2014the two countries signed a 100-year partnership<\/a> agreement earlier this year. As part of its pledge to provide aid to Kyiv, the UK is also keen on transferring 200 billion EUR worth of frozen Russian assets<\/a> into an investment fund that could be used to provide more financial assistance to Ukraine. As this fund would help bypass EU member states\u2019 vetoes regarding the use of the frozen funds, the idea is strongly opposed by some EU member states, including Hungary.<\/p>\n

    Related articles: <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During the 2024 general election in the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer made a campaign promise to \u2018reset\u2019 the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-105971","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114516937181270703","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}