29Prime Minister Andy Burnham has warned Emmanuel Macron that the European Union\u2019s emerging \u201cMade in Europe\u201d agenda could create significant difficulties for British industry, exposing a concrete trade dispute beneath the improving political relationship between London and Brussels.<\/p>\n
Burnham raised the issue when he hosted the French president on Thursday. In its readout of the meeting<\/a>, Downing Street said the two leaders agreed to seek a way forward that would protect their shared interests. It did not announce an exemption for British companies or a timetable for an agreement.<\/p>\n \u201cMade in Europe\u201d is not a single tariff or law. It is a political direction running through defence, infrastructure, clean technology and other strategic purchasing: European public money should create more production, intellectual property and skilled employment inside Europe rather than increase dependence on suppliers elsewhere.<\/p>\n France has pressed this argument more forcefully than many EU members. From Paris, a country that has left the Union cannot expect identical access to procurement intended to strengthen the European industrial base. From London, excluding capable British suppliers would divide closely integrated supply chains, raise costs and weaken the security partnership both sides say they want.<\/p>\n Defence makes the tension especially clear. British and French companies work together on missiles, aircraft and nuclear stewardship, while their armed forces share expeditionary and European security interests. The two leaders also discussed SCALP cruise-missile assembly lines and support for Ukraine. A local-content rule that treated every British component as foreign could sit awkwardly beside that operational cooperation.<\/p>\n The same problem reaches beyond arms. UK manufacturers participate in European automotive, aerospace, energy and construction supply chains. Procurement preferences can affect them without taking the visible form of a customs duty: eligibility thresholds, component-origin rules and scoring advantages may decide which consortia can bid and where production is placed.<\/p>\n Britain\u2019s position outside the single market makes a comprehensive solution difficult. London can seek sectoral access, mutual recognition or association with particular programmes, but each concession may require budget contributions, regulatory undertakings or reciprocal access. France will also want to prevent any British arrangement from becoming a route for non-European content to qualify for EU preference.<\/p>\n The disagreement is a more precise sequel to Burnham\u2019s recent call for a bolder relationship with the EU. EU Today\u2019s coverage of his meeting with European Council President Ant\u00f3nio Costa<\/a> noted that political ambition would eventually have to be converted into negotiating choices. The meeting with Macron has identified one of them.<\/p>\n