Brussels 19.05.2025 Today the UK and the EU have agreed a new trade deal – five years after Brexit took effect. Following six months of intense talks after Sir Keir Starmer promised a fresh deal when he became prime minister last July, the two sides have come to an agreement.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsThis is a new chapter in our 🇪🇺🇬🇧 partnership.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) May 19, 2025
Starting with our Security & Defence Partnership.
It’s first step towards the UK’s participation in our defence industrial readiness SAFE ↓ https://t.co/pexS79xQAO
British passport holders will be able to use more e-Gates in Europe to avoid the long border control queues at ALL PASSPORTS entrance that has been practiced since Brexit in many EU countries.
Pet passports will be re-established so companion animals – mainly cats and dogs – travelling from the UK will no longer need pricey health certificates for every trip. After Brexit, pet owners had to get a certificate from a vet in the UK before the departure, then a vet in the EU before returning.
A new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal has been agreed to overcome the obstacles currently in place for import/export food and drinks between the UK and the EU.
There is no time limit to this part of the deal, which the UK government announced would reduce the burden on businesses and lorry queues at the border.
The “vast majority” of routine checks and certificates for animal and plant products will be removed completely, including between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The Labor government is convinced that new arrangements could lower food prices and increase choice on supermarket shelves.
BREAKING: The UK-EU deal via @AlbertoNardelli
*Keir Starmer has made a major late concession on fisheries to allow the EU TWELVE YEARS ongoing access to British waters on status quo arrangements. They will now expire in 2038. UK had originally sought just a four year extension.…
— Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) May 19, 2025
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The current fishing deal agreed in 2020 will continue for 12 years onwards without changes, and there
will be no increase in fish quotas.
If true that will be the end of the fishing industry. https://t.co/jUIH7ZlCpj
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) May 19, 2025
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The other controversial point was the return of the UK to the Erasmus+ student programme.
The Sunday Times reports this morning that the UK is rejoining the Erasmus scheme and giving EU students concessionary fees, seemingly to help Ursula von der Leyen educate her children more cheaply. https://t.co/CSQVrc8015 pic.twitter.com/rnmci2969k
— David Frost (@DavidGHFrost) May 18, 2025
EUROPE DIPLOMATIC 