Context
With a new UK Government in place interest is turning to how Keir Starmer’s government seeks to develop the UK’s relationship with the EU.
The UK’s relationship with the EU is underpinned by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). The operation of the TCA is up for review in 2026 but attention is already turning to how the new UK Government will in the words of the Prime Minister “make Brexit work for the British people”.
The first signs of how the relationship is likely to develop were revealed during the Prime Minister’s first visit to Brussels on 2 October 2024 where he met with Commission President von der Leyen along with the Presidents of the European Council, Charles Michel and of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola.
Following the meeting with the European Commission President, a joint statement was published in which both sides pledged to “strengthen the relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union”. In terms of substance, the key message to come from the statement was to reaffirm the roles of the Withdrawal Agreement and the TCA in underpinning the relationship and agreed to fully and faithfully implement both agreements. On the future, the statement set out an intention:
“to take forward this agenda of strengthened cooperation at pace over the coming months, starting with defining together the areas in which strengthened cooperation would be mutually beneficial, such as the economy, energy, security and resilience, in full respect of their internal procedures and institutional prerogatives.”
Perhaps most significantly both leaders agreed to meet again in the autumn and that it was important to hold regular EU-UK Summits at leader-level “to oversee the development of the relationship” with the first Summit to take place ideally in early 2025.
What does the UK government want from the EU relationship?
In the lead up to the election, the new Prime Minister made it clear that a Labour government would not seek to take the UK back into the European Union Single Market or the Customs Union. The Labour manifesto made clear that a Labour government would instead seek to improve the UK’s trading relationship with the EU “by tearing down unnecessary barriers to trade.” To achieve this, the manifesto committed to:
“seek to negotiate a veterinary agreement to prevent unnecessary border checks and help tackle the cost of food; help our touring artists; and secure a mutual recognition agreement for professional qualifications to help open up markets for UK service exporters”.
In an article for The Local Europe, the new Foreign Secretary David Lammy MP set out the new UK Government’s approach to its relationship with EU partners:
“As the new British Foreign Secretary, with our Prime Minister Keir Starmer, this government will reset relations with Europe as a reliable partner, a dependable ally and a good neighbour.”
However, beyond these positive messages, the UK Government has not set out in detail what it would like to achieve from the relationship. Tony Connelly, RTE’s Europe Editor wrote in an article on 7 October 2024, that the UK Government’s approach is “short on detail, big on tone”.
What does the EU want from its relationship with the UK?
In April 2024, the European Commission proposed a youth mobility scheme between the EU and the UK which would allow 18–30-year-olds to work, train and study in both the EU and UK for a four year period. At the time, the Labour Party (then in opposition) rejected the proposal saying there would be no return to free movement. Whilst the proposal could not be construed as a return to free movement, it was a sign of Labour’s nervousness on the EU issue.
According to Tony Connelly, Brussels based diplomats from EU member state governments discussed what they would like to achieve in any discussion with the UK Government:
“”A number of member states mentioned fisheries and energy,” said a second diplomat. “Youth mobility was raised by a limited group, the Germans in particular, a small group mentioned [EU] citizens’ rights [in the UK], and there was broad support for strengthening foreign and defence cooperation.”
Connelly reported that the overriding sense from EU diplomats was that the onus is on the UK Government to come forward with some concrete proposals for how it would like to develop the relationship.
If negotiations take place, the EU position will be formulated and negotiated by the European Commission. Ursula von der Leyen’s team’s key challenge may be developing a negotiating mandate which satisfies the interests of all Member States. In addition to the issues highlighted above, further areas of interest for closer cooperation can be framed around security (Germany, Poland and the Baltic States) and migration (a key issue for southern European states, in particular Italy).
The view in the Scottish Parliament
Identifying the upcoming review of the TCA in 2026, the Scottish Parliament’s Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee is undertaking an inquiry into the review of the TCA. In phase one of the inquiry the committee focused on trade in goods, reporting on 10 September 2024.
The committee concluded that “Scottish businesses face significant challenges in exporting goods to the EU under post-Brexit trade agreement, with improvements in the UK-EU trading relationship needed”. The key recommendations from the committee were:
- The UK Government should negotiate improvements to the trading relationship to better facilitate UK-EU trade.
- To address trade barriers there will be a need to seek closer regulatory alignment with the EU.
- The UK Government should seek a veterinary agreement with the EU to significantly reduce border checks and the administrative burden on exports of agri-foods.
- The UK Government should seek a mutual recognition agreement with the EU on conformity assessments, and also the linkage of the respective UK and EU emissions trading schemes.
- The UK and Scottish governments need to provide greater support to businesses in managing the complexity of the current trading environment with support needed for businesses to comply with changing EU regulations, and to navigate the customs and regulatory requirements of trading with the EU.
The committee will undertake phase two of the inquiry focusing on mobility and trade in services during the rest of 2024.
Conclusion
The new UK Government has set out a desire to improve the UK’s relationship with the EU and make the TCA operate better. Whilst there is a scheduled review built into the TCA set to take place in 2026, any changes to the UK-EU relationship may be negotiated before that.
At this stage the UK Government has provided little detail on what it would like to achieve from a negotiation, instead it has chosen to focus on improving the tone of the relationship. From the EU perspective, a key challenge for the European Commission will be balancing the interests of all Member States in formulating a negotiating mandate.
The Scottish Parliament’s Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee is continuing to examine how the relationship can be improved to benefit Scotland. The first phase focused on trade in goods and over the course of the rest of 2024 the Committee will examine issues around trade in services and mobility with the aim of having a position to inform the UK-EU negotiations when they take place.
Iain McIver, SPICe Research