BRUSSELS: The EU and Britain look set to haggle to the wire over fishing rights and food checks as they seek a deal on closer defence ties at a landmark post-Brexit summit next week.
The meeting in London on Monday between UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the EU's top officials was planned to bring the first results from London’s much-vaunted “reset“ in ties.
Inking a defence and security partnership is seen as a symbolic step in turning the tide after the years of bad blood since Britain's exit from the bloc on January 31, 2020.
But old habits die hard and the two sides are squabbling to the last over long-standing bugbears that threaten to stall the rapprochement.
Diplomats in Brussels said negotiations were focused on getting Britain to keep its waters open for European fishermen, in return for the EU easing checks on some food imports from the UK.
Other sticking points include an EU push for a scheme allowing young people to move more easily between the two sides that London fears threatens its red line on returning to free movement.
“They want everything and they’re giving nothing,“ one European diplomat complained of the British stance, speaking like others on condition of anonymity.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Starmer could look to give the talks a final shove over the finishing line at a summit of European leaders in Albania on Friday.
'Framework'
If they can overcome the last hurdles, then the “security and defence partnership” to be signed would be the highlight of the London sit-down.
The move is aimed at opening the door to closer cooperation as both the EU and Britain race to rearm in the face of the threat from Russia and fears US President Donald Trump will no longer help protect Europe.
That should mean more regular security talks, Britain considering joining EU military missions and the potential for London to fully tap into a 150-billion-euro ($167-billion) defence fund being set up by the bloc.
But the deal is expected to leave much of the detail to be filled in later -- for instance requiring a further agreement on giving the UK and its defence industry unfettered access to the EU programmes.
“It’s a framework for more cooperation,“ another EU diplomat said.
Reaching the security pact was long seen as the lowest hanging fruit for negotiators given that Britain already has intertwined defence ties with 23 EU countries in NATO.
Those bonds have only tightened as Trump has rattled Europe by pushing for a quick end to the war in Ukraine.
Britain has teamed up with France to spearhead plans for possibly deploying troops to Ukraine in the event of any deal.
A UK government official speaking on condition of anonymity said the defence pact is expected to be agreed.
Another British official familiar with the matter stressed that Monday was just the first in a series of annual summits.
“Inevitably there are things that are agreed for this summit, there will be things we agree to carry on discussing, and things we don’t get over the line at all,“ they said.
The defence partnership was envisioned to be inked alongside two other documents.
One sets out a shared vision on global issues and another lists the thorny subjects both sides hope to make progress on in the coming months.
London and Brussels are treading carefully as closer cooperation with the EU remains a politically divisive issue for Starmer who faces a growing challenge from diehard anti-EU Reform UK.
