Starmer ‘confident’ of making progress on post-Brexit 'reset' deal ahead of major EU summit
16 May 2025, 06:08
Sir Keir Starmer has said he is confident of making progress on a deal with the EU ahead of a major summit on Monday.
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The Government is set to host EU leaders in London next week as part of its "reset" with the bloc that could see an agreement struck on British access to a 150 billion euro (£126.4 billion) defence fund.
The deal is understood to be a jumping-off point for future negotiations between the UK and EU, giving an idea of the kind of relationship both sides want to maintain after Brexit.
But some reports have suggested that disagreements over fishing rights and a possible UK-EU youth mobility scheme have thrown the prospect of a deal into doubt.
These have been the two major sticking points of a potential deal, and several high-level negotiations have not broken the deadlock.
European countries, including France, are keen to secure continued access to British waters for fishing, rather than having to renegotiate limits and quotas each year, according to reports.
Another concession will be UK participation in a youth mobility scheme which gives 18 to 30-year old UK residents the opportunity to work in the EU for two years, and vice versa.
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“[Fisheries] is one of the building blocks of this agreement. It is not possible to imagine that we have a successful summit without a positive outcome on this issue,” a senior EU diplomat told the Guardian.
“If you don’t have an agreement on fisheries, you don’t have an agreement on SDP [security and defence policy], you don’t have an agreement on migration. It has to be a win-win."
But the Prime Minister struck a positive note during a visit to Albania on Thursday, telling reporters: "I'm confident we will make really good progress into Monday.
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"If we do that we will have completed three agreements - India, US and EU - in the course of a two-week window, which is incredibly beneficial for our country."
While Sir Keir said he would not offer a "running commentary", he added his refusal to conduct "megaphone diplomacy" had enabled the Government to make "good progress" in negotiations with the EU.
Sir Keir's visit to Albania comes ahead of another European summit in the country's capital on Friday.
With leaders from across the continent expected to attend the European Political Community summit, it is likely to present an opportunity for last-minute negotiations on an EU deal as well as talks on migration, defence and Ukraine.
The prime minister will host President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen; the European Council president, António Costa; and the EU high foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, at the first EU-UK summit in London on Monday.
During the visit, Sir Keir also hit back at comments from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who has threatened to tear up any agreement with the EU that did not meet her party's five "Brexit tests".
These include no "backsliding" on free movement or forced asylum transfers, no new money paid to the EU, no reduction in fishing rights, no role for the European Court of Justice and no "compromise on the primacy of Nato".
Asked about Mrs Badenoch's position, Sir Keir said it was "really hard to take her seriously" following her opposition to deals struck with both India and the US.
He said: "Now without knowing what is in the deal with the EU, she says she's against it. The only saving grace is that nobody in Europe takes her seriously so it doesn't make a blind bit of difference.
