The United Kingdom at a summit in London struck deals with the European Union on defence, fishing and energy in a bid to reset the UK’s relationship with the EU.
At the first EU-UK summit, the EU and UK leaders reaffirmed their commitment to tackling strategic and geopolitical issues and welcomed agreement on the EU-UK security and defence partnership.
“The agreements we have reached today mark not just progress but a new chapter in the relationship between the UK and the EU. The start of a renewed and strengthened strategic partnership,” said EU Council president Antonio Costa.
The establishment of a ‘comprehensive, mutually beneficial partnership’ aims to frame cooperation across a wide of range of security and defence areas which include regional security issues, peace-building and crisis management, including cooperation and possible participation of the UK in the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) operations, cyber issues and hybrid threats and the resilience of critical infrastructure and foreign information manipulation and interference.
In their joint statement, the leaders reiterated that for the UK and those EU member states who are NATO allies, NATO remains the cornerstone of their collective defence.
In a bid to ‘increase stability and predictability for fishers on both sides of the Channel’, the Commission and UK have agreed to full reciprocal access to waters beyond 30 June 2026 and until 30 June 2038.
The renewed agenda for European Union-United Kingdom cooperation agreed between the UK and the European Commission explores areas with the potential to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the EU and the UK.
The UK and Commission have agreed that it is in their mutual interest to deepen people-to-people ties, particularly for the younger generation. They are therefore to work towards a ‘balanced youth experience scheme’ for EU and UK young people to participate in activities such as work, studies, au-pairing, volunteering or simply travelling, for a limited period of time; and the association of the UK with the Erasmus+ programme.
Erasmus+ programme (background information)
The UK and the European Commission are also to continue their exchanges on smooth border management for the benefit of their citizens, including the potential use of eGates where appropriate.
The UK and Commission are to work towards the UK’s possible participation in the EU’s internal electricity market, a common sanitary and phytosanitary area, linking both emission trading systems (ETS), better implementation of the rules for entry and temporary stay of natural persons for business purposes, and the recognition of professional qualifications, set out in the existing trade and cooperation agreement.
On Internal security and judicial cooperation, the Commission and UK will work to strengthen cooperation in law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, finalise pending agreements regarding collaboration between Europol and the UK’s national crime agency, reinforce mutual and reciprocal exchanges of data on fingerprints, DNA and the criminal records of third-country nationals.
They also suggest that the European Union Drugs Agency and the relevant UK authorities could conclude a working arrangement on drug-related risks and threats.
On migration, the EU and UK agreed to work together to reduce irregular flows and to strengthen cooperation with countries of origin and transit. The UK and the Commission are to work towards deepening cooperation on the external dimension of migration, practical and innovative approaches to reducing irregular migration, bolstering UK and EU border security and addressing instances of visa abuse.
Finally, the EU and the UK have underlined the importance of regular exchanges, and agreed to hold regular high-level meetings on joint strategic interests, such as economy and trade, and justice and home affairs, foreign and security policy dialogues every six months and summits every year.
EU-UK summit 2025: outcome documents
Questions and answers on the package agreed at EU-United Kingdom Summit
