Haggling on Starmer's Brexit 'reset' goes to wire: EU demands fresh concessions on youth 'free movement', fishing and taking Brussels rules to end 'sausage wars' - with fears of 'betrayal'
Haggling over Keir Starmer's Brexit 'reset' looks to be going to the wire ahead of a crunch summit on Monday.
The PM is hoping to unveil an 'ambitious' new relationship with Ursula von der Leyen in London, boosting trade and security.
Allies see the pact as essential for his core mission of getting more growth out of the economy.
However, discussions have been plagued by French demands for access to UK fishing waters - to the evident frustration of some Brussels officials.
Britain is expected to align with EU plant and animal health rules in a Swiss-style arrangement. That should end the so-called 'sausage wars', which have seen exports of chilled meats restricted for the past four years.
The bloc has been pushing for a 'mobility scheme' that would allow young people to work freely in the EU and UK - something critics have said would be a version of free movement.
Brussels is also said to want cheaper university fees for students, and for the UK to stop developing gene-editing techniques for crops.
According to the Financial Times, a draft EU communiqué setting out the terms of an improved EU-UK relationship might not be finalised until Sunday as tensions mount.
One EU diplomat told the paper: 'We are all unhappy with missing progress, especially on youth mobility... and how the British demand wide-ranging concessions without offering anything in return.'
Keir Starmer is hoping to unveil an 'ambitious' new relationship with Ursula von der Leyen (pictured together) on Monday, boosting trade and security
Discussions have been plagued by French demands for access to UK fishing waters - to the evident frustration of some Brussels officials. Pictured, Emmanuel Macron
One key point of contention is through to be a call for a four-year deal on fishing rights to replace the post-Brexit settlement, which expires next year.
The 'reset' has been dubbed the 'surrender summit' by critics, with fears Sir Keir will look to unpick the referendum.
Kemi Badenoch, who is in Belgium today to speak at the International Democracy Union, is expected to say: 'We can improve our relationship with European countries, but not by being a supplicant.
'Keir Starmer seems willing to give up our fish to the French and to pay to be allowed to be part of a defence pact.
'My worry is that when Labour negotiates, Britain loses. From paying to give away our territory in Chagos to the tiny tariff agreement with President Trump which the Prime Minister overhyped, he assumes a weaker position.
'We need to put our national interest first and move forwards – not reopen the battles of the past.'
The EU's foreign affairs representative Kaja Kallas has made little secret of her bewilderment at the Macron government using the rights of French trawlers as leverage at a time when Europe faces a major threat from Russia and weakening US resolve under Trump.
The EU's foreign affairs representative Kaja Kallas (pictured) has made little secret of her bewilderment at the Macron government using the rights of French trawlers as leverage at a time when Europe faces a major threat from Russia and weakening US resolve under Trump
Speaking to the BBC's Newsnight earlier this week, the former prime minister of Estonia said both sides were 'working intensively' towards a deal, adding: 'In this security environment, in this global security environment that we are in I think the co-operation between the UK and the European Union is extremely important for both sides.'
Pressed further on the fishing deal she rolled her eyes and crossed her fingers, saying: 'I think we are over the fish … any deal is not together unless everything is agreed, we still have a few elements there but I hope that we will get there.'
