Blitz Bureau
THE European Union will demand access to British fishing waters in return for a closer relationship with Britain, reports The Telegraph.
Sir Keir Starmer is pursuing a reset to European relations, and last week hosted a summit for European Political Community (EPC) leaders at Blenheim Palace. The Prime Minister hoped to use the summit as a springboard to forge closer trade, security and foreign policy ties with Brussels, as well as work on a migrant returns deal.
‘Offensive interests’
However, the EU is said to be preparing a list of “offensive interests” it will use in any future talks with the UK Government. Officials believe access to British fishing waters will be one of the key trade-offs in response to Sir Keir’s requests.
The Government has also said it will attempt to improve the UK-EU trade deal agreed by Boris Johnson’s government in 2020, and Sir Keir has been offered a symbolic EU-UK summit in Brussels by Charles Michel, the European Council president, to begin those negotiations.
The bloc’s 27 prime ministers and presidents are understood to be keen to hear from Sir Keir about his plans to overhaul relations. “We still don’t know what they want,” a European diplomatic source said at the EPC summit. Top of the agenda for the EU, especially France, will be renewing the UK-EU fisheries deal, which expires at the end of June 2026. Emmanuel Macron has listed the issue of fishing as a priority, alongside migration and defence, for talks with the UK.
