BRUSSELS – Closer ties with the EU are a “patriotic decision” Britain’s Brexit chief has said as the two sides move to tighten ties even further in the wake of the unravelling relationship with Donald Trump’s America.
At a meeting of the UK-EU forum in Brussels, a conference on post-Brexit relations, senior leaders from both sides said in the wake of current global turmoil there was “no alternative” but to “put emotion aside” and accelerate closer alignment.
It comes amid deteriorating relations between the United States and Europe and the UK, and the economic turmoil caused by the Iran war. In Washington on Wednesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves described the war as a mistake.
In Brussels. European Parliament president Roberta Metsola suggested the UK should have a ‘bespoke’ deal, rather than follow other models for third countries, while Britain’s Brexit minister Nick Thomas-Symonds warned that a more dangerous world was forcing Britain and the European Union back together.
“We meet at a time of profound global instability,” he said . “The world… is becoming a more dangerous place.” In that context, he added, “there is no UK security without Europe, and no European security without Britain.”
His message indicated that the UK government is moving beyond the caution that has defined the post-Brexit years and is now openly embracing closer cooperation – and, crucially, alignment of food and drink regulations – as a matter of national interest.
Thomas-Symonds acknowledged the economic drag created by Brexit-era barriers, pointing to more than a million export health certificates issued since 2023, and hundreds of millions of pounds in additional costs for British businesses.
Against that backdrop, he described regulatory alignment not as a concession but as a “strategic choice” and even a “patriotic decision” when it boosts growth and reduces friction.
‘The most ambitious agreement’
Maroš Šefčovič, the EU Trade Commissioner who leads negotiations on the EU side, struck a notably constructive tone, emphasising both the strength of the existing framework and the scope to deepen it further.
He described the current Trade and Cooperation Agreement as “the most ambitious agreement ever concluded by the EU with a third country” but stressed the focus was now on building on that foundation.
Šefčovič confirmed that both sides are working to conclude key issues – including youth mobility, SPS arrangements and carbon market linkage – by the upcoming summit, while also advancing talks on UK participation in the EU’s internal electricity market.
Significantly, he also acknowledged Britain’s evolving position, noting that the EU had “taken good note” of the UK’s desire for closer alignment and was exploring how far that could go.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola told the forum the political case for a reset is now overwhelming. She argued that a decade after Brexit, both sides must “take the emotion out of the discussion” and focus instead on practical cooperation.
“There is no alternative to a strong and constructive EU–UK relationship,” she said, pointing to shifting geopolitical realities as a decisive factor.
Metsola rejected the idea that Britain should slot into an existing template such as the Norwegian or Swiss models, insisting instead on a bespoke relationship that reflects its status as a former member state. “The United Kingdom is not any other third country,” she said. “It needs to be treated as such.”
Like Thomas-Symonds, she emphasised the real-world costs of divergence, citing businesses deterred by regulatory complexity and arguing that agreements on food standards, carbon markets and energy could deliver immediate economic benefits.
That shift is already feeding into concrete negotiations. Talks on food and animal imports, electricity rading systems, and a youth mobility scheme are all advancing – in some cases ahead of schedule – with the aim of delivering results by the next EU–UK summit this summer.
The agreement to allow the UK to rejoin the EU’s Erasmus+ student exchange programme from 2027, signed this week, was presented as an early symbol of what a more pragmatic relationship can deliver.
If the UK is now signalling a willingness to move closer, Brussels appears increasingly ready to meet it halfway.
An Ipsos poll presented at the Forum showed 43 per cent of respondents see EU-UK interests as the same or mostly the same, up from 32% in 2023. It follows a More in Common poll earlier this week which showed two-thirds of respondents – 66 per cent – backed improved trading terms with the EU.
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