UK and EU race to finalise Brexit reset ahead of historic Lancaster House summit

UK and EU race to finalise Brexit reset ahead of historic Lancaster House summit

Britain and the European Union are engaged in eleventh-hour negotiations over a sweeping package of agreements intended to reset their relationship post-Brexit, with tensions mounting ahead of Monday’s landmark summit at Lancaster House.

Set to be the first high-level UK-EU summit since Brexit formally took effect in 2020, the meeting will see Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and EU leaders sign a security and defence partnership — the centrepiece of a new diplomatic chapter. However, last-minute haggling continued through Sunday night over contentious issues including food trade, fisheries access, and youth mobility, the Financial Times reported.

Brussels offers SPS trade deal tied to fishing rights
One of the EU’s key proposals is an open-ended sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement to lower barriers on food and animal products — a long-standing UK ask — but only if Britain agrees to extend current EU fishing access to UK waters by 10 years. Downing Street, which had previously offered five years, declined to comment publicly, though officials from both sides confirmed the EU’s latest offer.

The political stakes are high. Starmer risks a backlash from Conservative critics and fishing communities who accuse him of “surrendering” UK sovereignty. “Starmer is about to surrender British interests,” warned Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.

Yet British officials privately acknowledge that without a comprehensive SPS deal, farmers and supermarkets will face continuing uncertainty. They concede that some form of regulatory alignment with EU standards, and even financial contributions to EU-led animal health programmes, may be necessary — conditions some view as a betrayal of the Brexit mandate.

Youth mobility: a sticking point with broader consequences
Another flashpoint in the talks is youth mobility. The EU is pushing for an ambitious scheme to allow easier movement of young people — including students — in exchange for smoother travel for UK citizens across Europe. Without it, officials say, Britain is unlikely to secure long-sought privileges such as access to EU passport e-gates or relaxed touring rules for British musicians.

While Starmer has accepted a youth mobility deal “in principle,” he is pushing for vague wording in the final communiqué, postponing contentious discussions on student quotas and tuition fees to later this year. Brussels is pressing for more clarity now.

Divide-and-rule accusations and a scramble for consensus
Tensions have also emerged over Starmer’s approach to the talks. EU diplomats criticized his government for bypassing Brussels and lobbying individual EU capitals directly — a strategy dismissed by one official as a “divide and rule tactic.”

Despite the friction, both sides are expected to present Monday’s summit as a diplomatic breakthrough. “Huge progress” has been made, British officials said Sunday, though they acknowledged that unresolved points might be deferred to future negotiations.

Security and symbolism at the forefront
Monday’s summit will see Starmer meet European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president António Costa. The defence pact and a communiqué on “deeper economic co-operation” will be signed during a two-hour session beginning at 10am.

The final text of the agreements is due at midday. While the summit aims to showcase reconciliation, the difficult negotiations underscore how Brexit has transformed EU-UK diplomacy into a transactional, deal-by-deal arrangement.

As one senior EU diplomat put it, “They will need to find a solution, even if it takes the whole night.”