{"id":833076,"date":"2026-03-18T02:49:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T02:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/833076\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T02:49:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T02:49:18","slug":"reeves-gives-the-biggest-sign-yet-the-uk-wants-to-reverse-damage-of-brexit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/833076\/","title":{"rendered":"Reeves gives the biggest sign yet the UK wants to reverse ‘damage’ of Brexit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rachel Reeves has suggested following EU rules should be \u201cthe norm\u201d across swathes of the economy in a significant post-Brexit shift<\/a> designed to boost growth.<\/p>\n

The Chancellor said that although there are some industries in which the UK will need to retain the freedom to set its own rules, these are likely to be \u201cthe exception, not the norm\u201d.<\/p>\n

Her comments were seen as a statement of intent to take \u201chalf a step\u201d back into the European single market in a major upending of the Brexit settlement that would mean the UK becoming a rule-taker of Brussels law in several industries at significant financial cost.<\/p>\n

New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.<\/p>\n

A Treasury source confirmed Reeves and the Government were \u201clooking at more alignment\u201d in \u201cseveral sectors\u201d beyond the current negotiations for deals on food and drink trade, joining the EU electricity market, and matching carbon taxes.<\/p>\n

The i Paper also understands officials in the Cabinet Office EU unit have for weeks been probing which sectors would be most appropriate for alignment.<\/p>\n

British industry said the Government should consider moving closer to Brussels\u2019 regulations on chemicals, cars and pharmaceuticals to boost the economy.<\/p>\n

More alignment with the EU would need big concessions to Europe<\/p>\n

But the Chancellor was warned that this would come with a significant price tag as the EU would likely demand payments into the billions of pounds and more British concessions to allow Europeans to travel and live in the UK more easily<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The EU\u2019s top negotiator has this week already demanded concessions in current negotiations<\/a> lowering university tuition fees and paying into the Brussels budget to unlock talks on the further cooperation Reeves craves.<\/p>\n

In a sign of goodwill, Reeves also said the UK would \u201clook carefully\u201d at contributing to an EU plan to give Ukraine a \u20ac90bn euro loan, which could unlock billions of pounds of arms deals for UK manufacturers.<\/p>\n

But her comments on alignment with EU laws were the most significant yet as Sir Keir Starmer and the Government have openly called for closer ties with Brussels to boost Britain\u2019s spluttering growth rate.<\/p>\n

UK risks being \u2018stranded\u2019 between trading blocs<\/p>\n

Despite freedom from Brussels\u2019 regulation forming a major part of the successful campaign to leave the EU, Reeves said that this approach risks the UK being \u201cstranded\u201d between rival trading blocs in a world where globalisation is receding, unless it seeks closer ties with Brussels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prize is considerable,\u201d Reeves said, claiming closer alignment would help bring down prices and inflation.<\/p>\n

Setting out the \u201cdeep damage\u201d of Brexit, Reeves said it had hit gross domestic product \u2013 a measure of the size of the economy \u2013 by up to 8 per cent and contributed to higher prices for businesses and consumers.<\/p>\n

She insisted she was not trying to \u201cturn back the clock\u201d on Brexit but to build a \u201cnew and stable future relationship\u201d with Brussels.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere it is in our national interest to align with EU regulation, we should be prepared to do so, including in further areas of the single market,\u201d the Chancellor said at the annual Mais lecture at Bayes Business School in London.<\/p>\n

She set out three tests for further alignment \u2013 that it would lead to higher growth and investment, more jobs and consumer benefits; that it would set the UK on a stable future policy direction that is compatible with its values and objectives; and that it must preserve or enhance national security.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen those principles are satisfied, alignment should be forward-looking and durable, providing the certainty that businesses on both sides need to invest and grow,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, there are areas in which regulatory autonomy may be necessary for sectors with unique characteristics or strategic importance for the UK, but that should be the exception, not the norm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reeves\u2019s plan would not breach Labour\u2019s manifesto to stay out of the EU single market.<\/p>\n

EU unlikely to want a deal without significant trade-offs<\/p>\n

But former UK trade official and Brexit expert David Henig told The i Paper Reeves\u2019s comments suggest she wants to take \u201chalf a step\u201d back into the single market, although her three tests may make this more difficult.<\/p>\n

The EU would also seek to extract a hefty price, Henig, the UK director of the European Centre for International Political Economy, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK can align more but the EU isn\u2019t particularly interested in offering much more single market integration without financial contributions or greater movement of people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

UK in a changing Europe director Anand Menon told The i Paper: \u201cIt is quite obvious why Rachel Reeves should be wanting far-reaching alignment with the EU.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt offers a way to treat down those trade barriers Labour promised to tear down in its manifesto without obviously breaching the red lines in that same document.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is this is not something the EU has shown any interest in at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Reeves set out plans to increase regional economic growth, including by giving local elected leaders greater spending powers, with proposals to hand them a share of income tax and other national levies to invest in their areas.<\/p>\n

She also set out \u201ccity investment funds\u201d backed by \u00a32.3bn of funding, focused on Northern England and the West Midlands, giving regional leaders control of \u201clong-term, self-sustaining capital\u201d to invest, with a commitment to the retention of business rates.<\/p>\n

But while admitting the student loan system is \u201cbroken\u201d amid widespread concerns about costs, she said it was not a priority. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo, yes, we want to fix it. Yes, we want to make improvements. But is it front of the queue? No, it\u2019s not,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rachel Reeves has suggested following EU rules should be \u201cthe norm\u201d across swathes of the economy in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":833077,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,3027,619,16,10051,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-833076","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-politics-news","16":"tag-rachel-reeves","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-uk-economy","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116247905294707065","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833076","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=833076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/833077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=833076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=833076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=833076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}