What Can we Expect from the UK-EU Summit?

What is happening and when? 

On Monday 19th May UK and EU leaders will meet at Downing Street to focus on continuing to develop and improve relations post-Brexit. 

What will be discussed? 

It is likely that discussions will focus on security, foreign policy and barriers to trade impacting SPS goods, travelling artists and the mutual recognition of professional qualifications. 

In what is expected to be a wide ranging conversation, areas such as climate and the linking of emissions trading schemes (ETS) may also be on the table.   

Within a report released yesterday and titled 6th Report – How to strengthen UK-EU relations: Policy Priorities for the Summit, the Business & Trade Committee set out their three broad headings which they believe should be covered in the Summit and any future reset of relations: 

• Defence: Strengthening cooperation in defence industries, intelligence-sharing, and critical infrastructure protection 

• Energy Cooperation: Cutting the cost of the transition to Net Zero by deepening integration 

• Trade: Minimise trade frictions through SPS agreements, customs process simplifications, regulatory cooperation, and sector-specific trade facilitation 

What outcomes can we expect? 

It is unlikely that any ambitious or far-reaching agreements will be announced following the summit.  One area that we may see immediate action is on security however, apart from that, this summit may simply lay the groundwork for future discussions.  

Though relationships have improved both sides remain under pressure to not overly concede concessions to the other party.  For instance, the EU will not want to be seen as allowing the UK to ‘cherry pick’, while the Labour government will want to balance improving relationships while following the will of the Brexit referendum.   As such, areas that benefit both parties (such as security and SPS measures) seem to the be the most likely to see progress.  

Why is this summit seen as important? 

This summit demonstrates the continuous improvement in the UK and EU’s relationship.  Also, with the current global situation, there seems to be an appreciation from both sides that closer ties are needed to ensure financial stability and security.  

Finally, this Summit marks one of the first opportunities since the announcement of the TCA to discuss and tackle a wide range of topics and issues.  As such, it can also be the first opportunity to see whether the positive rhetoric will lead to actual positive action.