UK and EU urged to aim higher in reset talks as negotiations stall
Mar 20th 2026
EU and UK ministers say a bigger, more integrated deal is needed to revive post-Brexit ties as talks on youth mobility, trade rules and sanitary checks slow, with July set as a key deadline.
- EU official Maroš Šefčovič and UK minister Nick Thomas-Symonds publicly signalled the need for a reboot of relations at the EU-UK parliamentary partnership assembly.
- Trade minister Chris Bryant called for a single, ambitious approach focused on sectoral regulatory alignment to boost UK exports.
- Talks on youth mobility are deadlocked over the EU demand that UK universities charge EU students home fees.
- Sanitary and phytosanitary negotiations are progressing slowly after the European Commission only secured a member state mandate in November.
- Some senior Labour figures including Rachel Reeves and Sadiq Khan are pushing for deeper integration with the EU or even rejoining.
- A July summit sets a near-term deadline for progress, while a customs union remains contentious because Prime Minister Keir Starmer says it would void recent trade deals.
Articles
- Ten years after the EU referendum, Britain has become more European www.economist.com
- Quietly, Britain is moving closer to EU rules www.economist.com
- Britain and the EU should be bolder in getting closer www.economist.com
- ‘We need to think much bigger’: trade minister calls for greater ambition in UK-EU reset www.theguardian.com