{"id":63488,"date":"2025-04-30T17:28:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T17:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/63488\/"},"modified":"2025-04-30T17:28:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T17:28:08","slug":"softer-brexit-deal-close-with-eu-defence-pact-likely-to-be-signed-next-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/63488\/","title":{"rendered":"Softer Brexit deal close with EU defence pact likely to be signed next month"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\t\t\tSources say ‘momentum is building’ for a post-Brexit deal with up to three documents to be agreed\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

The UK and EU are closing in on a defence deal to unveil at next month\u2019s landmark Brexit reset<\/a> summit as the two sides look to \u201cget things done\u201d, sources have signalled.<\/p>\n

Brussels\u2019 chief negotiator Maros Sefcovic this week travelled to London for meetings with key UK ministers which continued a new \u201cwarmth and spirit of cooperation\u201d after Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met last week in a \u201cwatershed moment\u201d, an EU source said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMomentum is building for a constructive approach to the 19 May summit to find common solutions to global issues and \u2018get things done\u2019,\u201d the source told The i Paper.<\/p>\n

It is understood three documents will be signed at the summit.<\/p>\n

The comments appeared to suggest the UK\u2019s push for a security and defence pact to form the centrepiece of the London summit was beginning to bear fruit, and comes after the Government signaled it was open to extending fishing rights for the EU<\/a>, which some member states had demanded before agreeing to new deals.<\/p>\n

David Lammy was among those who discussed a defence pact with Sefcovic, and a UK Government source said the Foreign Secretary was among ministers \u201cworking hard on trying to get a deal over the line\u201d for 19 May.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile on Wednesday, EU ambassadors were meeting in Brussels to discuss next steps for the reset after a leak of the draft joint statement <\/a>for the May summit showed the two sides were going to agree to \u201cfree and open trade\u201d in the wake of Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the EU member states want this to happen. We have cleared up the biggest obstacles and we\u2019re all working to get it ready for the summit,\u201d said one EU official.<\/p>\n

The defence agreement aims to establish \u201cconcrete\u201d co-operation between defence industries in Britain and the EU, as well as possible joint military exercises. <\/p>\n

The pact would also clear the way for the UK defence companies to benefit from the EU\u2019s new \u20ac150 billion defence loan initiative, Security Action For Europe (SAFE). \u201cWe want Britain to be more closely involved in European security and so does Britain, so this is an obvious win-win,\u201d said one EU diplomat.<\/p>\n

The second document is a so-called \u2018geopolitical preamble\u2019 that commits the two sides to supporting key issues like Ukraine, free trade and combatting climate change, as the Trump administration turns away from previously shared values and interests with Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The third agreement is a \u2018common understanding\u2019 which sets a road map for the relationship on issues like the dynamic alignment of the UK to EU rules and standards, fishing rights, and is likely to include confirmation of a much-mooted youth mobility pact.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The improving mood music for the post-Brexit reset came after reports suggested hopes of a quick trade deal with the United States were fading.<\/p>\n

The Guardian reported Trump\u2019s administration has made an agreement with the UK, which Sir Keir Starmer hopes will reduce tariffs on British exports to the US, a second order priority to be negotiated after a first phase of talks between Washington and other countries.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister\u2019s official spokesman refused to put a deadline on talks, saying they were still \u201cgood\u201d and proceeding at both ministerial and official level.<\/p>\n

But the reports will be a blow to those in the Government who want to strike a US trade deal before agreeing any Brexit reset pacts with the EU, due to fears a pact with Brussels could hamper Trump\u2019s willingness to find an agreement with the UK.<\/p>\n

\nIndia trade deal close as UK wins out on visas<\/strong><\/p>\n

A free-trade agreement between the UK and India which has been in the works for years could be sealed within weeks or even days, Whitehall insiders believe.<\/p>\n

The two governments have agreed to make it easier for business travellers to visit each others\u2019 countries for short trips, a key ask of New Delhi.<\/p>\n

But the UK has refused to accept any liberalisation of the long-term visa system to avoid adding to net migration figures.<\/p>\n

The Indian trade minister was in London this week for talks on a deal, which originally began when Boris Johnson was still prime minister.<\/p>\n

The two sides fell short of agreeing the final text of an agreement but remain hopeful that ministers could meet again to sign the deal shortly<\/p>\n

Hugo Gye<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sources say ‘momentum is building’ for a post-Brexit deal with up to three documents to be agreed The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2993,32,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,3027,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-63488","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-defence","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-eu","13":"tag-europe","14":"tag-european","15":"tag-european-union","16":"tag-great-britain","17":"tag-politics-news","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114428097611354533","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63488","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=63488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}