A key summit between the UK and EU has been delayed again as the two sides clash over Brussels’ new “Made in Europe” policies.
A meeting to clinch deals to reset post-Brexit relations on July 22 was postponed, and the talks were quietly pencilled in for November 6. But this date has again been pushed back until late November at the earliest, two EU officials told the FT.
British officials are determined that the summit should address the concerns of new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham over the negative impact of the plan to limit some public and corporate spending to EU-made products on British industrial sectors including cars and chemicals.
Burnham this month told French President Emmanuel Macron that the policy under the EU’s proposed Industrial Accelerator Act could “pose significant challenges for UK industry”.
But the EU has declined to link the issue to the longstanding reset talks begun with Sir Keir Starmer after a landmark London summit in May last year, according to an internal briefing seen by the FT.
Maroš Šefčovič, the European commissioner leading talks, told Cabinet Office minister Hamish Falconer last week that the policy required the approval of the European parliament, making it difficult for member states to negotiate. An EU diplomat told the FT it was “impossible”.
The EU prefers to stick to the package agreed in London. This includes a deal to remove border checks on animal and plant products, relinking carbon trading schemes that were severed at Brexit and a youth experience scheme to allow under-30s to live and work in each other’s countries temporarily.
There is a debate inside Burnham’s government over how far Britain should go to secure access to Made in Europe, notably over the terms of the proposed new youth mobility scheme.
The FT revealed last month that Starmer had considered giving EU students cheaper “home fees” access to British universities and allowing up to 100,000 young Europeans into the UK — a key EU demand — if it was included fully in the legislation.
However, EU members have insisted that the UK agrees a higher cap and home fees without other concessions to secure the reset deals, with London arguing that similar youth visa schemes that it has with Australia, Japan and 11 other countries do not include such freedoms.
The UK has also pushed back against EU demands for a so-called “Farage clause”, requiring any future UK government that walked away from the “reset” deal to pay financial compensation to Brussels to rebuild border infrastructure.
“If there is no summit this year then the EU calculation will be that it might be better to wait for the British election in 2029,” said an EU diplomat. “You need a summit to create the pressure to solve the outstanding issues,” they added.
A spokesperson for António Costa, the president of the European Council, who would host the reset talks, said there was “a clear commitment on both sides to step up the EU-UK relationship and work towards a summit later this year”, adding that “preparations are ongoing”.
The European Commission declined to comment. The UK government said a date for the summit had not been set but added: “We are fully committed to building a closer, more ambitious relationship with our European partners.”
“We continue to engage with the EU on ‘Made in Europe’ and work together, as like-minded partners, to boost growth and open up trade,” the spokesperson said.
