Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer’s push to deepen EU ties further than the Brexit reset so far were dealt a blow on Monday as Brussels’ top negotiator demanded major concessions from the UK.
Reeves, the Chancellor, is expected to use a major speech on Tuesday to step up demands for more UK alignment with the EU single market rules to reduce trade barriers and boost growth.
But top EU official Maros Sefcovic demanded major concessions in current Brexit reset talks before even beginning to consider how the relationship could develop further.
Sefcovic explicitly called for the UK to lower tuition fees for EU students in the youth mobility deal the two sides are negotiating, and said Britain must effectively pay millions or billions into the Brussels budget by financing “cohesion” projects in European countries as the price of entry to the continent’s electricity market.
In an interview with The i Paper in December, UK Brexit Reset Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds ruled out paying into the EU budget and insisted lowering tuition fees was “not something that’s up for discussion”.
Big reduction in EU students in the UK ‘not a good sign’
But with existing reset negotiations dragging on, Sefcovic suggested that unless the UK backs down or strikes a deal in these areas, the EU would not be willing to discuss demands for even closer alignment between the two sides.
“I believe the agreements on all these topics would be the best signs of progress in the bilateral relationship,” he told a meeting of the EU-UK Parliamentary Assembly.
“Once we have demonstrated that we can deliver on this, then we can consider how can we proceed more, and what should be the agenda for the next summit.”
On tuition fees, Sefcovic stressed that the big reduction in EU students going to the UK was “not a good sign” and insisted there are benefits from hosting Europeans as they build English language skills and their relationship and ties with Britain.
“I know that it’s challenging and it’s difficult but I believe that on both sides of the Channel there is a strong wish from elected representatives of the people that we should solve this problem – we should have youth experience and we should be able to tackle also the issue of tuition [fees].”
Post-Brexit EU undergraduate student fees in the UK currently range between £11,400 and £32,000 a year, according to figures highlighted by The Migration Observatory in June 2025. Home student fees stand at £9,535 a year.
Caving into EU demands to cut tuition fees for European students under a proposed youth mobility deal could leave the UK’s cash-strapped universities £580m out of pocket, modelling shared with The i Paper last month suggested.
UK being asked to pay into EU funds
On a mooted electricity deal, Sefcovic said that as part of this: “The EU is asking the UK to contribute to reducing economic and social disparities between the regions of the union – a contribution to the cohesion policy.
“We would like to agree a framework in which the UK would finance projects in cohesion [in] member states.
“This is a standard EU policy towards third countries that have access to the internal market, such as EEA/EFTA countries such as Switzerland.”
A UK Government source acknowledged Sefcovic may have been at his most publicly explicit about the EU’s demands but told The i Paper there were “no surprises” for British negotiators in what he said.
Thomas-Symonds meanwhile told the assembly that Britain wants to go “even further” in getting closer to Brussels, saying the reset so far marked “a lot done but a lot more to do”, and calling for the next summit between the two sides this spring to set a direction for “further ambition” in the “aspects of our economies where working more closely together will be in our interests and in the interests of the EU”.
However, UK In A Changing Europe director Anand Menon told The i Paper: “What today proves, for anyone in the slightest doubt, is that the EU will negotiate hard for what it wants.
“The idea – always spurious – that they’d be keen to make concessions to a more pro-EU UK Government is now clearly for the birds.”
Reeves to call for closer alignment
Meanwhile, with Reeves expected to call for more alignment with EU rules in her scene-setting Mais lecture on Tuesday, British industry said the Government should consider moving closer to Brussels regulations on chemicals, cars and pharmaceuticals.
Reeves said in her Spring Statement earlier this month that she would use the lecture to “set out three major choices that will determine the course of our economy into the future”.
Growing the economy has been a key pledge of this government, but growth has so far proved elusive. The latest GDP figures last week showing the economy flatlining. Closer ties with Europe would, it is hoped, free up trade and help boost UK business.
William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “there needs to be a full debate about future UK-EU regulatory relationships on chemicals, automotives, and pharmaceuticals. The needs of business and trade must be central to that debate. The aim must be to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes that raise growth and lower costs on cross border trade in these sectors.”
He added: “Business wants to see boldness in cutting trade barriers with the EU, the UK’s largest global partner for trade in goods.”
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