Everything you need to know about the UK-EU Brexit reset summit

LONDON — Keir Starmer wants to reset relations with the European Union. At a summit in London Monday, he’ll finally break ground on the first phase.

What’s happening?

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa and the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas are meeting the British prime minister in London for a long-awaited U.K.-EU summit.

The forum was first mooted in October 2024 when Starmer traveled to Brussels to kick off his “reset.” The main outcome of that meeting was an agreement to hold more meetings — specifically, “regular” U.K.-EU summits to use as a framework for improving cross-Channel relations and reforming or building on the Brexit settlement.

This is the first one. It’s mostly about getting talks rolling on a range of issues over the coming months, but some concrete outcomes are expected as well.

A No. 10 Downing Street official said late Sunday: “Negotiations are going down to the wire and a deal is not yet done. There are some outstanding issues on both sides and conversations will continue overnight.” 

What’s on the table?

As a baseline, officials working on preparations for the summit expect three main things out of the meeting: a security pact, a declaration on global issues, and a “common understanding” of future topics to be negotiated.

Security is seen in both capitals as the least controversial aspect of the reset and so a good place to start, though which specific measures will make it into any agreement is yet to be nailed down.

The accord is likely to create more “structured dialogues” of the kind beloved in Brussels — official forums for the EU and U.K. to discuss cooperation and strategy.

There are also likely to be measures to make it easier for defense industries to cooperate across the Channel. Britain wants access to more EU security databases, too, though it remains to be seen whether it’ll be successful.

Asked if the security and defense agreement would ensure Britain access to EU+ weapons procurement programs, one EU diplomat said: “Potentially yes, it would let in Britain to weapons procurement deals. If not, we would have still have [the] SAFE [rearmament fund]. If we do not get an agreement unexpectedly, we could still include SAFE into the wider deal. There are diplomatic safeguards.”

While this agreement is widely anticipated, some diplomats believe it isn’t an absolute certainty. That is, in part, due to fishing. More on that below.

Deadlines

Both sides are also keen to use the meeting to address looming deadlines on energy and fishing — where existing arrangements in former PM Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal are set to expire next year.

Some EU member countries, notably France, are keen to link progress on fisheries to unlocking other aspects of the talks, though they’ve been coy in public about their exact demands.

The EU is effectively seeking an extension of the current — very favorable — arrangements for fishing in British waters for multiple years. If one isn’t agreed, access would have to be negotiated on an annual basis, which would be a pain for EU fleets and would hand the U.K. recurring leverage.

London, by contrast, is seeking to avoid headlines that the British government has once again sold out its fishing industry. It’s a tricky balance for Starmer.

Energy is slightly different. Like fishing, the agreement struck by Johnson expires in June 2026. On this topic, though, neither side really likes the current arrangements — which are clunky, inefficient, and accused of holding back investment in the North Sea and raising prices for consumers. Both sides want to replace it with something better.

But it’s not clear whether that will be done in one fell swoop at Monday’s summit, or put on the to-do list.

Future talks

The “common understanding” of future topics is where the biggest remaining issues raised in the run-up to the summit are likely to end up. Think: a youth mobility agreement, a sanitary and phytosanitary agreement, and linkage of emissions trading systems. Electricity trading could find itself there too, as could items like the mutual recognition of professional qualifications and improved conditions for touring artists on the continent.

What finally makes it into this package will set the agenda for relations for the rest of the year, ahead of a scheduled review of the Brexit trade deal.

This isn’t a formal deal as such and doesn’t mean the policies name-checked are guaranteed to happen. Instead, it’s a to-do list of plausible areas where both sides think cooperation could be enhanced within the framework of the existing Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Expect this area to be heavily scrutinized — and a measure of how ambitious Starmer’s reset will really be.

The political pitfalls

The summit takes place against a difficult political backdrop for Starmer. A YouGov poll released Friday saw his approval ratings fall to an all-time low of -46, a 12-point drop in the space of a month.

This was largely driven by a whopping 34-point monthly drop among Labour voters. His Labour Party now consistently tails Nigel Farage’s Euroskeptic Reform outfit in the polls.

Reform voters, constantly wooed by Labour, detest the prime minister, with just 2 percent having a positive opinion of Starmer compared to 96 percent with a negative view — down a further five points on last month.

Whether Starmer uses the opportunity to lean into an ambitious reset in the hope of restoring public trust, or shies away from anything too bold, will become clear Monday.

Opposition parties smell an opportunity. The pro-European Liberal Democrats — to whom, along with the Greens, Labour is bleeding more voters than it is losing to Reform — are urging Starmer to go further and join an EU customs union. The Tories, who are struggling for airtime, have pledged to rip up any deal that crosses their tight red line the second they return to government. Reform vows to hammer Starmer on immigration if he signs up to a youth mobility scheme.

Where and when?

The summit will take place at Lancaster House, a five-minute walk from Downing Street. It’ll be largely a morning event. Expect it to be topped off with a press conference before lunchtime.