The United Kingdom and the EU meet in London to symbolically bury the bitterness of Brexit.

LondonMuch Ado About Nothing? Five and a Half Years after the formalization of Brexit, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is trying to turn the page on his divorce from the European Union this Monday in London, at a summit with the President of the European Commission and the President of the Council, Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa, respectively. The London government wants to put into practice what it has so far, and since Labour came to power In July of last year, it has been little more than well-intentioned rhetoric: approaching the blog to improve trade pacts and "reset" relations with the other 27 countries. There are factors in favor, but also obstacles, especially internal, that London must face.

Throughout the weekend, the Downing Street propaganda machine has launched all kinds of bait aimed at the middle classes and messages to convince the Brexiteers that "the will of the people" will not be betrayed. To the point of making ridiculous headlines, such as the supposed new phase to be opened in the next few hours between London and Brussels that will allow British tourists to use EU electronic gates at airports to enter Union territory.

The rapprochement is more symbolic than solid, "rather modest and unambitious," because neither Downing Street nor Brussels want to "cross their red lines," Jannike Wachowiak, a researcher at the ARA, tells ARA. think tank UK in Changing Europe, from King's College. And the possible use of electronic gates speaks volumes about this. The packaging has changed, but not the substance. The United Kingdom has no intention of returning to either the single market or the customs union, much less allowing the free movement of people. At the same time, the EU "will not set precedents with a third country that destabilize other agreements," such as those it already has with Switzerland or Norway. In short, the Commission does not want to let London cherry-pick from the EU menu.

Even so, the meeting set some minimum objectives, which have been negotiated until the last minute. The first is the signing of a geopolitical preamble, which would define common interests: for example, support for Ukraine or collaboration on climate change under the standards defined in the Paris Agreement, which would imply an implicit rejection of the policies of the current US administration.

The second objective, and the most likely to be achieved given the international context – the war in Ukraine and the destabilization that Donald Trump has brought to the global order – is the establishment of a defense and security partnership, which could open the door to British participation in European public rearmament contracts. The islands' military industry – BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce – could take a slice of this €150 billion pie. driven by Ursula von der Leyen's defense plan Faced with the unreliability of the traditional US ally, however, the scope of the pact is subject to the aforementioned last-minute negotiations and the misgivings of some of the 27 countries, especially France. Emmanuel Macron would like to limit British access to 15% of the funds, while Germany and Belgium do not set such barriers.

The third objective under discussion for months is the establishment of a protocol to define a roadmap for talks in areas such as agri-food trade and an agreement on phytosanitary standards. Unlike Rishi Sunak's government, Starmer seems willing to accept a dynamic alignment. That is, if Brussels were to change them, London would adapt, although it could not intervene in their design. This would reduce bureaucratic and trade barriers for food, dairy, and meat products. But it will have to be specified later.

Fishing and Youth Mobility

In this same section, the EU intends for the United Kingdom to open up to youth mobility, nominally reformulated to avoid association with the term "free movement of persons," a concept associated with full EU membership. It could be defined with the acronym YES, the initials in English for Youth Experience Scheme. In theory, it would allow students aged 18 to 30 to study and work in the EU and the United Kingdom for a period of between one and four years, a period that was still being negotiated late this Sunday. Brussels also wants EU university students to be able to pay the same fees as Britons, a proposal that London refuses. At least for the moment.

Downing Street is negotiating this point with a close eye on Nigel Farage's Reform Party, one of the main architects of Brexit. Farage won the last local elections in England, held in early May, and polls now give it first place at the state level. Starmer last week promised new measures to curb legal immigration. And the YES program could fuel the usual ultra-demagoguery.

As for fishing, current rights expire in 2026. London is offering four more years, and Paris wants seven. The economic impact is minimal, but once again, Farage could benefit from the clamor that Labour is betraying the aforementioned "will of the people"—that is, Brexit—and is selling out the country in Brussels. The fine print of whatever is announced will reveal whether there is more bread than cheese in the reset of relations.