UK and EU Agree to New Post-Brexit Deal

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the agreement, which covered areas including defense, travel, and fishing rights, marked a ’reset' in relations.

A puzzle with printed European Union and UK flags, in this photo illustration taken on Nov. 13, 2019. Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters

The UK agreed on May 19 to the most wide-ranging deal on defense and trade with the European Union (EU) since Brexit.

Nearly nine years ago, the UK voted to leave the bloc, and it formally extricated itself in 2020 after years of bitter political fighting.

London and Brussels agreed to take part in joint defense procurement projects, making it easier for UK food and citizens to enter the EU’s 27 countries.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who backed the remain side in the Brexit referendum of 2016, said his government’s “reset” with the UK’s biggest trading partner would reduce red tape for food and agricultural producers, making food cheaper, improving energy security, and adding nearly 9 billion pounds (about $12 billion) to the economy by 2040.

“It’s time to look forward,” Starmer said. “To move on from the stale old debates and political fights to find common sense, practical solutions which get the best for the British people.

“We’re ready to work with partners if it means we can improve people’s lives here at home.

“So that’s what this deal is all about—facing out into the world once again, in the great tradition of this nation. Building the relationships we choose, with the partners we choose, and closing deals in the national interest. Because that is what independent, sovereign nations do.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the agreement a “historic moment” that benefits both sides.

She said it sends a message at a time of global upheaval that the UK and EU are “natural partners standing side-by-side on the global stage.”

Starmer, Von der Leyen, and European Council President António Costa met at a summit in Lancaster House in London to sign the deal.

The most trumpeted part of the agreement is a defense and security pact that will let the UK be part of any joint procurement and allow companies, including BAE, Rolls-Royce, and Babcock International Group, to take part in a 150 billion euro (about $168 billion) program to rearm Europe.

On fishing, UK and EU vessels will have access to each other’s waters for 12 years in return for a permanent reduction in paperwork and border checks that had prevented small food producers from exporting to Europe.

European ships fishing in UK waters were a major issue in the original Brexit campaign.

In return, the UK has agreed to the outline of a limited youth mobility scheme, with the details yet to be agreed upon, and is discussing participation in the Erasmus+ student exchange program.

A new system also will be implemented to make it easier for UK citizens to take their pets abroad.

Opposition parties in the UK have lambasted the deal, with Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, calling the deal a “sell-out.”

“We’re becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again,” she said.

“And with no details on any cap or time limits on youth mobility, fears of free movement returning will only increase. This is very concerning.”

Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage, who was previously dubbed “Mr. Brexit” by U.S. President Donald Trump, labeled it an “abject surrender“ in a comment to GB News. He said in a post on social media platform X that the deal would be the end of the UK fishing industry.

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was in power when the UK left the EU, also criticized the deal, calling it “hopelessly one-sided.”

“Two-tier Keir is once again going back on his promises to the people of this country—by making us non-voting members of a two-tier European Union,” Johnson said on X.

Business groups, in contrast, welcomed the deal, with British Retail Consortium CEO Helen Dickinson saying it “will help keep costs down” and Rain Newton-Smith, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, saying that it “marks a leap forward in the EU–UK relationship.”

While the EU is London’s largest trading partner, the UK has seen a drop in exports since Brexit because of border checks, paperwork, and other non-tariff barriers.

Visa restrictions have also hampered the operations of professionals such as bankers or lawyers abroad, and have affected music bands hoping to go on tour and school trips to the continent.

The deal is the third such treaty that the Labour government has agreed to since taking power, having previously inked agreements with India and the United States.