Full details of Starmer's Brexit 'reset' deal - breakthrough on e-gates and defence but row erupts over fishing
19 May 2025, 12:02 | Updated: 19 May 2025, 12:19
The Prime Minister hailed the agreement as “good for jobs, good for bills, and good for our borders”
European fishing vessels will be given a further 12 years of access to British waters as full details of Sir Keir Starmer’s “reset” with Brussels emerged.
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The Prime Minister has hailed the agreement as “good for jobs, good for bills, and good for our borders" with a series of wins on border checks for travellers, defence and police cooperation, and slashing red tape on food imports and exports.
Key points in the deal:
- Trade rules to be eased allowing more UK food exports but Britain will have to follow EU rules on food standards
- Brits to be allowed to use eGates at airports in EU countries
- EU trawlers allowed to fish in UK waters for 12 years
- Defence and Security pact allowing Brit firms access to EU defence fund
- Plans for ‘Youth Experience Scheme’ for young Brits to work on the continent
- UK gets access to EU facial images data to help catch criminals
A late-night deal was struck with the European Union ahead of Monday’s major summit with Brussels chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa.
There will be no change to current access to fish for coastal communities and no reduction in the British quota or increase in the quota the EU is allowed to catch, it is understood.
But the deal means European vessels will enjoy the same post-Brexit access they have had until 2038, 12 years after the current arrangement expires.
Further details of the deal were announced at the UK-EU summit today, where Sir Keir was meeting with his European Commission president Mrs von der Leyen and European Council president Mr Costa.
The government said they had struck a deal that will make it easier for food and drink to be imported and exported by reducing the red tape on businesses which has led to lengthy lorry queues at the border. “This agreement will have no time limit, giving vital certainty to businesses,” Labour said.
Angry fishermen hit out over EU ‘reset’ deal as they raise fears over Britain’s fishing industry
Some routine checks on animal and plant products will be removed completely, including between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Britain will also be allowed to sell various products including burgers and sausages back to the EU again.
British steel exports are protected from new EU rules and restrictive tariffs, saving around £25m per year.
There will be closer police cooperation, with the UK to enter talks about having access to EU facial images data for the first time, on top of the existing arrangements for DNA, fingerprint and vehicle registration data.
British holidaymakers will also be able to use more eGates in Europe as part of the deal, hopefully bringing an end to long border queues.
Sir Keir said: “It’s time to look forward. To move on from the stale old debates and political fights to find common sense, practical solutions which get the best for the British people.
“We’re ready to work with partners if it means we can improve people’s lives here at home.
“So that’s what this deal is all about – facing out into the world once again, in the great tradition of this nation. Building the relationships we choose, with the partners we choose, and closing deals in the national interest. Because that is what independent, sovereign nations do.”
Minister for European Union Relations and lead Government negotiator, Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “Today is a historic day, marking the opening of a new chapter in our relationship with the EU that delivers for working people across the UK.
"Since the start of these negotiations, we have worked for a deal to make the British people safer, more secure and more prosperous. Our new UK-EU Strategic Partnership achieves all three objectives. It delivers on jobs, bills and borders.
"Today is a day of delivery. Britain is back on the world stage with a Government in the service of working people."
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds described the deal as a “solid eight” out of 10.
“I’m not the kind of man to get hyperbolic about these things, but look, this is a good deal for borders, for bills, for security in the UK and for jobs,” he told GB News.
Officials said talks on the deal with the EU went down to the wire on Sunday night, ahead of the landmark London summit.
Not all issues will be agreed at the talks, with discussions with Brussels to continue and summits planned every year.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticised the fishing agreement, saying: “Twelve years access to British waters is three times longer than the Government wanted.
“We’re becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again.”
Mrs Badenoch and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage had already described the deal as a “surrender” before knowing the details.
Youth mobility could prove a major sticking point for the Opposition, and Mrs Badenoch said she feared it would involve a return to free movement “by the back door”.
The Tories have also set out a series of “red lines” on fishing rights, including ensuring exclusive access to Britain’s territorial sea and resisting “a multi-year agreement which only benefits France”.
The Liberal Democrats meanwhile have called for a new UK-EU customs union.
