Although the current mood is one of reconciliation and renewed partnership after the years of Brexit conflict, the EU’s uncompromising actions show that pragmatic self-interest of individual members of the bloc – in this case France’s fishermen – still holds sway.
In exchange, Starmer obtained a comprehensive veterinary agreement that will significantly reduce bureaucracy for British agricultural and fisheries exports to their largest market, a key economic objective of the “reset” negotiations. British people don’t eat the fish the British trawlers catch – 70 per cent of all UK fish exports from the UK by value go to the EU.
Any talk of punishment of the UK is hyperbole, and so too is the Brexiters’ talk of “sellout” and promises to undo the changes announced on Monday. It will likely be at least another four years before Reform UK or the Conservatives get a chance to look at the levers of negotiation. For the Europeans, there is a sense of relief that relations can be normalised.
But Britain has moved on from 2016. The battles are in the present in a world altered beyond recognition by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
“You are not in the EU, so of course you don’t have the same influence over the decisions of the European Union. That was the whole idea of Brexit, that you don’t want to be part of it,” she said.
Over the last three years, nearly every survey has suggested a majority would now vote to rejoin the EU. That’s because the polls now consider the view of young people who could not vote in 2016. They back going back into the EU by nearly three to one.
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A question mark still hangs over Starmer’s plan to stop small boat crossings by dismantling the smuggling gangs, which depends on closer law enforcement collaboration. Despite Brussels’ willingness to cooperate on intelligence and joint projects, it has blocked access to crucial databases – including fingerprint records of undocumented migrants – due to the UK’s non-EU and non-Schengen status.
The use of the grand Lancaster House, which nestles next to St James’s Palace off Pall Mall, hints of a grand reset. But this is the starting point of further negotiations. A youth mobility agreement is still under discussion as the EU is yet to agree to a numerical cap. A fudge between Britain’s insistence on an annual limit and EU demands for a more open-ended scheme is likely.
Discussions about fish will also dominate the PLP. Last night’s events underscored that, despite a reset in relations, Brussels remains unobligated to favour Britain.
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