EU will demand early fish deal in UK reset talks

Brussels is drawing up tough red lines for its coming ‘reset’ negotiations with the UK — including demanding an early deal on fishing rights and repeating the “no cherry-picking” mantra — according to internal discussion documents.

UK ministers, including chancellor Rachel Reeves who will travel to Brussels on Monday, have said they are seeking a “very ambitious” reset of the UK’s security and trading arrangements with the EU when talks begin next year.

However a 19-page working paper setting out EU interests observed there were “limited” economic gains on offer as a result of the UK’s own red lines ruling out rejoining the EU’s single market or customs union, or accepting free movement of people.

“A significant further reduction of trade frictions with a close trading partner, such as the United Kingdom, would be in the interest of the European Union. This, however, would require a different model for co-operation,” it said. 

The document circulated to EU members, and seen by the Financial Times, summarised the findings of several weeks of internal EU Commission seminars to discuss policy positions towards the UK on issues such as fishing rights, youth mobility, energy co-operation and trading arrangements. 

Labour said in its election manifesto that it wants to improve the UK’s relationship with the EU by “tearing down the barriers to trade”, but the EU approach sent out to member states is highly circumspect.

The paper, prepared by Hungary as it holds the rotating presidency of the bloc, reiterated the “no cherry-picking” principles the European Commission set out in 2017 for dealing with the UK, and said they will remain “core guidance” in the upcoming talks.

It also warns that the UK must agree to a rapid deal on fish — as well as the full implementation of the existing EU-UK agreement including the Windsor framework on post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland — if it wants deeper co-operation in other areas.

EU officials said it was “critical” the UK honoured its commitments, and that Brussels still has concerns about the implementation of the existing agreements. Ahead of her visit this week, Reeves said the UK was committed to full implementation.

Member states also want an early agreement over maintaining their fishing rights in the coastal waters of the UK, which would extend the current deal that expires on June 30 2026.

Member states made clear that the promised ‘reset’ was “only credible if it is based on an early understanding” on fishing. The document adds: “This is needed for the facilitation of discussion on the other aspects under consideration.” 

The European Commission also takes an uncompromising stance on a number of other areas, which it says reflects its advice to member states not to allow the UK access to the EU single market on its own terms.

On irregular migration — which includes small boat crossings — the paper says member states are generally open to deeper co-operation but said that a so-called “returns agreement” for sending illegal arrivals in the UK back to EU countries was “unacceptable” to many member states.

On legal migration, the EU bemoans what it calls the UK’s “restrictive” attitude to business visas, including the £1,035 annual NHS surcharge. It also sets out a vision for a Youth Experience Scheme — a rebranded version of the youth mobility scheme — for 18-30 year olds.

The UK has repeatedly ruled out such a scheme, but there remains “strong support” among EU member states for a reciprocal programme that allows young people to live and work for up to three years, and permits visiting EU students to pay the same fees for UK universities as local students.

In terms of deepening trade ties, the EU says it is open to Labour’s stated aim of concluding a “veterinary agreement” with the UK, but insists that this will require “dynamic alignment” requiring the UK to automatically transcribe EU rules into its own statute book.

It adds the EU should not negotiate such an agreement “based on the equivalence of legislations”, and suggests the UK will need to make a financial contribution to cover the cost of risk assessments. 

A similar approach should also apply to the possible linkage of the EU and UK’s carbon pricing schemes, a step that the EU is open to, but one that would require dynamic legal alignment and financial contributions to cover costs of linkage.

Brussels is also open to a new security and defence partnership with London, which was announced last month. Sir Keir Starmer will discuss it with EU leaders in February at an informal retreat in Belgium.

However the deal, which is expected to be unveiled in the first few months of 2025, is to be a “non legally-binding instrument”, the paper states. The document said such a deal could not be used as a backdoor route to improve trade ties. 

“It was emphasised [by member states] that the European Council guidelines that exclude sectoral participation in the single market should be respected,” it added.

EU diplomats said ambassadors would debate UK relations next week, followed by ministers on December 17. 

“It is still early in the process,” said one. “But it’s clear that we need the UK to implement what it has already signed — the Windsor framework — before we have more agreements. And we need a deal on fish.” 

The commission declined to comment.