Brexit tore the United Kingdom and the European Union apart. Now, President Trump’s America is prodding them back together.
Five years after Britain formally exited the European Union, their leaders are moving cautiously toward a new era of cooperation. In an event that has been billed as a major reset of relations, the two sides will meet for a summit on Monday in London.
They are expected to announce a landmark defense and security agreement intended to bolster military security in Europe as the United States downgrades its commitment to the continent. Negotiators could also announce plans to relax some rules on food trade and to deepen energy cooperation.
Admittedly, reaching agreement on the shape of the new relationship has not been easy. Despite the high stakes on defense, more prosaic concerns, including fishing rights and a plan for youth travel between countries, have remained painful sticking points for negotiators.
But Monday’s event aims to underscore the commitment of the two partners to working together during an increasingly fraught geopolitical era. Hanging over the broad agenda will be one overarching theme: how to push ahead in a world where the United States is pulling back.
After decades of global leadership on defense and an embrace of free trade, the United States’ role in the world is being fundamentally reworked by the Trump administration. Mr. Trump has been pushing for Europe to shoulder more responsibility for defense. He has moved away from full-throated support for Ukraine, and has drawn rhetorically closer to Russia. And he has waged a trade war on the world, slapping diplomatic friends and foes alike with much higher tariffs.
While Britain has struck a limited trade pact with the United States, it is light on detail and not yet finalized. The European Union has made little obvious progress toward any agreement, and has unveiled plans to hit back at America if no deal is reached.
Against that backdrop, Monday’s meeting has taken on a heightened significance. Britain may have broken up with the bloc because it wanted to go it alone economically, but the United States has reminded both partners that they share a set of daunting common problems. Cooperation will be key.
“The partnership is very important in this very turbulent time,” Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s chief diplomat, said last week. John Healey, the British defense secretary, signaled the same, telling Bloomberg that the “security challenges we face in Europe” required the two powers to “work together.” Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, said in a statement that “in this time of great uncertainty and volatility the U.K. will not respond by turning inward, but by proudly taking our place on the world stage — strengthening our alliances.”
A new defense and security pact
E.U. ambassadors will convene on Sunday to discuss final details ahead of the summit. But a new defense partnership has long been expected.
The European Union has been rolling out programs to shore up its own military sector, galvanized by Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine, as well as evidence that Moscow is conducting a hybrid war of sabotage and espionage on European streets. Officials fear that Russia could threaten other European nations within the next decade, and they believe they need to be prepared to defend themselves should that happen.
But as the European Union’s efforts ramp up, major questions persist about how big of a role Britain — which, after all, chose to leave the bloc — should be allowed to play, particularly in a 150 billion euro loan program to fund joint defense procurement.
The United Kingdom, and its defense sector, have been pushing for inclusion, but some European Union countries, notably France, want to limit British participation.
Another summit priority is economic cooperation, where Britain may have benefits to gain. The Brexit trade deal negotiated by Boris Johnson, who was the British prime minister at the time, is considered to have largely favored the European Union. And with growth flatlining, Mr. Starmer is hoping to reduce or remove some trade controls, including on exports of food and animal products.
Even so, “Britain is negotiating from a position of weakness because the trade and cooperation agreement works quite well for the E.U.,” noted Jill Rutter, a senior research fellow at U.K. in a Changing Europe, a think tank in London.
According to Mr. Starmer’s office, the agreement will help British producers “who face red tape and checks just to export to our nearest and biggest trading partner — or sometimes can’t export at all.”
Many experts believe that the rapprochement may be more symbolic than practical, however.
“It’s important for European security that Britain is linked to these European schemes,” said Anand Menon, a professor of European politics at King’s College London. But he added, “I don’t think, economically, it’s a game changer.”
In exchange for a deal allowing smoother trade in food products, Britain could agree to align its standards with Europe, change relevant laws when Brussels does and accept rulings from the European Court of Justice, the bloc’s top legal authority.
Those steps would create political risks for Mr. Starmer, who is already under political pressure at home from Nigel Farage, the veteran pro-Brexit campaigner who now leads a right-wing populist party, Reform U.K.
Sticking points: Young people and … fish
Two of the most difficult areas of negotiation have involved a plan to allow young people to travel more easily between the European Union and Britain, and the future of fishing rights.
The two sides have been negotiating toward a “youth mobility scheme” that would offer visas to some young people to work, study or travel within each other’s borders. Britain, which is trying to reduce immigration, wants to limit the scope of any plan. There has also been friction over university fees, as Europe has pushed for Britain to offer European students the same fees that British students pay.
Access to fishing waters has been another major sticking point. The bloc wanted to extend — perhaps indefinitely, but in any case, for a long time — the access for its fishers to British waters that was decided upon after Brexit. That deal expires in 2026. Britain had been floating a shorter-term deal, perhaps four years.
Wouter Beke, a member of the European Parliament from Belgium — home to a substantial commercial fishing industry — sent the European Union executive body a letter urging it to include fishery rights as part of the deal. He said it was important that the countries come up with a solution that could provide fishers with certainty.
“Five years after the Brexit, this is the start of a new relationship,” he said. “The transition period has come to an end, and we have to see how we can create the future, together.”
Jeanna Smialek is the Brussels bureau chief for The Times.
Stephen Castle is a London correspondent of The Times, writing widely about Britain, its politics and the country’s relationship with Europe.
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