Il Regno Unito e l’UE vogliono molto, velocemente. Quanto lontano andrà? – Il PM del Regno Unito è a Bruxelles lunedì per il suo grande “reset” su commercio, immigrazione e altro ancora. Potrebbe includere concessioni sulla pesca e sulla libertà di movimento

> #Britain and the EU want a big deal, fast. How far will it go?
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> *The PM is in Brussels on Monday for his big ‘reset’ on trade, immigration and more. It could include concessions on fishing and freedom of movement*
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> *Keir Starmer is hopeful of sealing a deal at a summit in the spring, but critics believe he has a mountain to climb*
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> Tim Shipman- Chief Political Commentator
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> Saturday February 01 2025, 6.00pm GMT, The Sunday Times
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> An enthusiastic footballer, Sir Keir Starmer is known for his moves on the five-a-side field, but the diplomatic dance he will begin on Monday looks like it needs the finesse of a Strictly contestant.
> Desperate for economic growth, the prime minister will travel to Brussels, the first stop in a planned “reset” of relations with the European Union.
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> A trip to Washington will follow in the next few weeks to see Donald Trump. Later in the year Starmer will again meet Xi Jinping of China. “Because we’re outside these trading blocs, it’s like dancing between three elephants,” a senior Downing Street official said.
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> Some voters may be baffled that, just as Britain marked the fifth anniversary of Brexit on Friday, trade relations with Brussels are back at the top of the political agenda. Even some Westminster insiders will be surprised to discover that, as far as the government is concerned, this will not be another protracted negotiation.
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> Two senior figures in Starmer’s team have revealed they expect to hold a summit with the EU in April or May to finalise the reset. One said: “I would hope by then that we have achieved something in all the areas where we want to make progress.” Another said: “We need to do things which have an impact on the economy well before the next election.”
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> The need for speed was reinforced this weekend when Trump imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10 per cent on goods from China. Downing Street is optimistic they can avoid punitive tariffs since America’s trade deficit in goods— something that agitates Trump — is close to zero with the UK.
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> On Monday Starmer will make his first appearance at the European Council, which brings together the leaders of the 27 member states, in a meeting focused on one of the UK’s strengths: defence and security.
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> “The PM will set out concrete ideas on defence and security in the face of the common threat from Russia and the need for European burden sharing to reassure Trump we will do our bit,” a senior source said. “Dinner is also a chance to explain to them what we want from the reset.”
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> Among these is a security deal that could lead to some joint UK-EU defence procurement contracts and a framework which would mean British officials could meet their EU counterparts four to six times a year for the first time since Brexit.
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> Once a date is set for the reset summit, a regular drumbeat of weekly meetings will begin in London and Brussels. At a political level, the talks will be led by Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister who is close friends with Starmer, and Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s trade commissioner. Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, are likely to be involved at the end to get the most difficult elements of the potential deal over the line.
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> Most of the heavy lifting in the talks will be conducted by Michael Ellam, a former Treasury mandarin who was Gordon Brown’s official No 10 spokesman, lured back from the City by Thomas-Symonds to lead the negotiating team. His opposite number is expected to be Alexandre Adam, deputy to Bjoern Seibert, who runs Von der Leyen’s private office.
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> Britain has seven “asks” in three “pillars” or “baskets” — defence and security, crime and migration, and trade.
> The main potential economic growth benefits come from the four parts of this pillar. The first is to secure a new deal on food, animal products and agricultural goods, which would reduce the huge burden of paperwork for British exporters to the EU and make it cheaper to import food.
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> This is the area where Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is pressing for the biggest wins. It would also remove most of the bureaucracy that remains for goods crossing the Irish Sea from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. The EU already has such an arrangement with New Zealand and Switzerland, based on mutual recognition of standards. Only 1 per cent of imports from New Zealand are checked under their treaty.
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> The British team also thinks there are quick economic gains to be made from a deal on energy, which could involve linking the UK and EU emissions trading schemes, further investment in energy technology and perhaps some joint procurement projects. Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, is enthusiastic.
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> The third strand is a potential deal to allow touring artists and performers to visit the EU more easily, something which would require a “carve out” of the Schengen agreement. Whitehall sources say Rishi Sunak got close to an EU-wide deal on this but when Starmer arrived in No 10 the Commission pulled back, realising it was a card they could play later. This is seen as a high-profile issue, since it will benefit well-known musicians, but the growth benefits are negligible.
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> A deal on services, the final part of the pillar, is viewed by ministers as potentially the most difficult. They would like to secure mutual recognition of professional qualifications to allow lawyers and financial services specialists to work in the EU.
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> But since 80 per cent of Britain’s economy is based on services — and the EU has benefited from some City firms having to migrate parts of their business to Frankfurt and Paris — it is likely to run into fierce resistance from special interest groups. “Keir and Nick [Thomas-Symonds] are both lawyers,” one senior figure said, “and they know how protectionist French lawyers are.”
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> **Crime and migration**
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> Starmer’s inner circle believes one of the simplest areas will be persuading Europol to share policing objectives and intelligence, the first part of the crime basket. From Britain’s point of view this should lead to better co-ordination on cross-border money laundering and human trafficking gangs. In return, the Europeans are desperate for British intelligence.
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> Much more problematic is Labour’s desire for more co-operation on returning migrants who have crossed the Channel. The Europeans will drive a hard bargain. They have two big demands in return — increasing access to Britain’s fish stocks for EU trawlers, and a youth mobility scheme to reopen freedom of movement for the under-30s.
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> Lord Frost, Boris Johnson’s Brexit negotiator, admits he failed to resist the EU’s demands on fishing in the Christmas Eve deal in 2020. Any perceived sell-out will be weaponised by Nigel Farage.
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> On Saturday Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, announced five “red lines” Starmer should not cross in the talks, which included “no reduction in our fishing rights”. That careful wording allows Labour to extend the transitional arrangements struck in 2020, which are due for renewal in May next year. That is what the EU will expect as a bare minimum.
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> The most politically toxic issue will be a youth mobility deal, something both Starmer and Thomas-Symonds have ruled out publicly. The Germans, in particular, are seen as “having a bee in their bonnets”, with their ambassador in London, Miguel Berger, privately suspected of pushing the issue in “unhelpful briefings” to the media.
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This article sounds more like “The UK wants a big deal fast”

“Hey, you know how we did that thing?………. Yeah can we just…. pretend it didnt happen?”

Two tier KEIR can’t CONCEDE on IMMIGRATION or else the PEOPLE’S ARMY of Reform will OPPOSE him at EVERY MOVE.

lets gooooo. Blanda up!

Good. Let’s go.

Give the UK a Norway-like deal.

Then offer the same deal to Canada.

I’m not sure the UK has much of an appetite for more immigration. Freedom of movement for young people is quite one directional…ie, in to the UK. And immigration is a bit unpopular currently.

Fish numbers are bouncing back after a break in over-fishing.

The UK has decent armed forces and nukes.

The UK should be in a strong position…but we negotiate worse than we take penalties…so…

UK back into the union in all but name? 🙃

Doubtful Starmer will even hint at committing to anything substantial given the events of the last 24hrs with Trump hammering Canada with tariffs and the EU supposedly being next in line. He’d be wise to stall and see what happens next, as the article points out, the EU is also in flux when it comes to political turmoil and direction.

Hopefully this fucked up situation with the US will make the EU more efficient, allowing us to skip a lot of bureaucratic nonsense and move much faster from the decision making stage to implementation in future.

Just a cheeky reminder many parts of the fishing quota were sold by English fishermen in the 1990s, because time and again they show us they have no long term understanding or planning.

It won’t be fast. Anything that requires any sort of concessions. Especially free movement of goods and people would require the UK to uphold EU standards and procedures.. something they’ve exactly been happy about in the past.

Sure, rebooting stuff like Erasmus programs won’t be much of a hassle. Likewise the UK can simply make it easier for European workers to enter the UK if they so desire. 

But those aren’t the heavy hitters and is either light weight political subjects or done unilaterally.

Hoping to make it easier to send migrants back to Europe will require a lot of concessions. The same with trade where the UK, as mentioned, will have to follow the appropriate regulations.

It’s almost like Brexit didn’t Work out so well after all 🤷‍♂️