A report by the Foreign Affairs Committee has found that the Government’s UK-EU reset lacks clear strategic priorities, resulting in the appearance that the EU has achieved more concrete progress towards their most pressing demands than the UK has.
Regardless, last year’s Lancaster House summit is a starting point for improved relations with the EU. The summit has substantially improved the overall political relationship and inserted positive momentum, and is broadly welcomed by Members.
The report is critical of the Government’s failure to clearly identify its strategic priorities and to present and secure a coherent roadmap on the future of the UK-EU relationship at the 2025 Lancaster House summit. It warns Ministers risk repeating these mistakes in the run-up to the second annual UK-EU summit to be held later this year, even though the geopolitical stakes in getting the relationship right for the long term have never been higher.
Despite a new “Strategic Partnership” with the EU, the Government still does not have the structures needed to coordinate policies of strategic significance of all kinds, particularly on matters of defence capability and economic security. This needs to be fixed, urgently, today’s report says.
The report calls for a White Paper with a coherent vision for the future of the UK-EU relationship and for a new Commons EU scrutiny committee.
Chair comment
Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Dame Emily Thornberry MP, said:
“The UK-EU reset represented a major step change in Government policy. The positive effects it has had were long overdue and are very welcome.
“Today’s report brings to an end a comprehensive inquiry taking stock of the entirety of the UK-EU reset since the General Election. Sadly, we found that despite progress in some areas, the Government’s reset is languishing, suffering from a lack of direction, definition and drive. It feels as though we are on a journey with no clear destination. In many areas, the Government has failed to provide timelines, milestones, or priorities and it does not appear to have an ambitious, strategic vision for the UK’s new relationship with the EU.
“In this new era for UK-EU relations, both sides need to retain a focus on the bigger picture. We face many of the same challenges and must work together. And we are utterly united on many fronts, including our robust defence of Ukraine and a commitment to Europe’s security.
“Progress hasn’t been helped by the EU changing the goalposts recently by demanding the UK make a financial contribution to the economic development of lower-income EU countries, a request not mentioned at last year’s summit. The exorbitant price tag for the UK’s participation in the first round of the SAFE programme is short-sighted, particularly given the threat from Putin’s Russia.
“But the Government can also do better. While it is positive that the Government now acknowledges the damage Brexit has done to UK business and trade, it isn’t enough to just identify the problem and vaguely call for more ‘alignment’. We need to work towards concrete, practical and deliverable solutions in tandem with our EU partners.
“Today’s report calls on Government to end its secrecy over EU matters, and set out exactly what it plans to do in the next phase of negotiations in a White Paper. Government should also be willing to subject its plans to proper parliamentary scrutiny and facilitate the establishment of a new EU scrutiny committee in the Commons.
“Despite setbacks, the Government must keep pushing. Fortune favours the bold and showing ambition now will reap rewards later.”
Addressing the “damage” of Brexit
Trade barriers with the EU continue to be a major issue for many sectors. The Prime Minister, Chancellor and various Ministers now refer to the “damage” of Brexit. The Committee welcomes the negotiations opened with the EU following the Lancaster House summit to undo some of the trade barriers created by Brexit, particularly for food and drink and electricity.
With some exceptions however, clear objectives, timelines and milestones for these different negotiating strands are vague or non-existent, today’s report finds.
The Committee calls on the UK Government to be clear-eyed about the potential difficulties any further negotiations are likely to throw up. To give businesses and investors clarity and certainty, the Committee urges Government to set out what further proposals it intends to make to improve trade relations with the EU.
Security and defence
European security is facing its greatest threat since the end of the Cold War and industrial cooperation between the UK and EU is an indispensable, strategic imperative.
The report welcomes the UK-EU Security and Defence Partnership, but urges the UK, EU and EU Member States to go further and faster. In particular, the failure of the UK and EU to agree on defence industrial cooperation under to SAFE – the EU’s key €150 billion fund aimed at improving the defence of the European continent – is extremely disappointing.
Today’s report urges both sides to resume talks on enhanced UK involvement in EU defence industrial initiatives as a strategic imperative.Further information.