As UK and EU announce reset agreement, European Council President says Gib deal ‘not very far’ behind

The UK and the European Union are “not very far” from reaching an agreement on Gibraltar’s post-Brexit relations with the bloc, Antonio Costa, the President of the European Council, said on Monday.

He was speaking in London as the UK and the EU announced a deal hailed as a “win/win” for both sides as the UK Government seeks to “reset” its relationship with the bloc after Brexit.

The agreement reached on Monday included commitments in areas such as defence and security, slashing controls on food and drink exports and a future youth mobility scheme.

It contained no references to the Gibraltar treaty negotiation, which is separate.

But the issue was raised by a journalist as Mr Costa answered questions during a press conference in Lancaster House alongside UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

Mr Costa said European commissioner Maros Sefcovic and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, both of whom were sitting in the front row of the press conference, were “making a very good job” of the “ongoing work” on Gibraltar.

What followed was a language hiccup as the Portuguese politician added: “My feeling is we are not very close to concluding this work.”

The mix-up was pointed out and quickly corrected.

“Not very far, sorry,” Mr Costa said.

For the avoidance of doubt, Sir Keir smiled as he added: “An important correction. We’re very close.”

Later in the afternoon Mr Sefcovic, who oversees the Gibraltar negotiation for the European Commission, posted on X that he had discussed the ongoing talks with Mr Lammy on the sidelines of the summit.

“We remain focused on successfully concluding talks on Gibraltar,” he wrote.

“The momentum is key - it's high time to get the job done.”

Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said agreement on a deal for Gibraltar was “excruciatingly close...but we are not yet there...”

And he cautioned against reaching the conclusion that the UK and the EU had reached a new deal while Gibraltar had nothing to show for five years of negotiation.

The reset announced on Monday was “a little bit” like the equivalent of the New Year's Eve agreement, “an agreement to agree”.

“We are now five years ahead of our agreement to agree, almost at our treaty stage,” the Chief Minister said.

Brexit had left the UK and Gibraltar faced with the “extraordinarily difficult position” of having to negotiate access on various fronts with the EU.

“The United Kingdom has been made a supplicant at the European table as a result of those who sold it Brexit as a thing that would make it great,” Mr Picardo said, speaking on GBC’s Gibraltar Today.

“It hasn't made the UK great. It has made it greatly diminished.”

“We are the pleader, the person seeking from the EU access to the market, whether it's Gibraltar seeking access to Schengen and access to the single market, or whether it's the UK seeking access to the 150 billion pound euro fund for defence, seeking access for its food into the EU, etc.”

The Chief Minister was nevertheless clear he believed the agreement on Monday signalled the beginning of a new relationship with the EU and was “hugely positive” for both the UK and Gibraltar.

He said the momentum over the three months towards the May 19 summit had “put on track” many issues in the Gibraltar talks and made them “more deliverable”.

“So it's been a period where we've seen the dynamic move very quickly, which has propelled us forward, closer even, to this moment which I very much look forward to finally arriving at some stage very soon, where we might be able to declare that we have an agreement if we clear all the other issues,” he said.

There had been wide speculation in recent days that an announcement on Gibraltar would be made at the summit or in the days preceding it.

That was further fuelled last week after Spain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jose Manuel Albares, told BBC Newsnight that the Gibraltar negotiation “is not resolved yet” and that a deal on the Rock’s post-Brexit relations with the bloc was necessary “to have a full UK/UE relationship”.

The comments were interpreted by UK opposition parties as Spain flexing its muscle over Gibraltar just days ahead of a summit widely regarded as a landmark moment in the UK’s efforts to rebuild its post-Brexit relations with the EU.

But the focus of Monday’s summit in London was always on the wider UK/EU relationship, including on critical issues such as defence and security against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and conflicts in other parts of the world.

‘TURNING A PAGE’

Sir Keir said the deal with the EU showed “Britain is back on the world stage” following agreements with both India and the US in recent weeks.

Alongside the defence element, he said shoppers, tourists and businesses will benefit from a deal with Brussels which sees the UK sign up to follow EU rules and grants European trawlers access to British fishing waters for a further 12 years.

The Government claimed the post-Brexit “reset” will cut red tape for travellers and businesses, boosting the economy by £9 billion by 2040.

Under the deal struck with Brussels, more tourists will be able to use e-gates at airports in Europe, pet passports will be introduced for UK cats and dogs, and businesses can sell burgers and sausages into the bloc again.

But the Prime Minister faced accusations of “surrender” over the extension of fishing rights until 2038 and an agreement to “dynamic alignment” with Brussels on areas including food standards and energy.

“It’s time to look forward,” Sir Keir said.

“To move on from the stale old debates and political fights to find common sense, practical solutions which get the best for the British people.”

“We’re ready to work with partners if it means we can improve people’s lives here at home.”

He said the deal “gives us unprecedented access to the EU market, the best of any country” outside of the bloc or the European Free Trade Association.

Sir Keir claimed it would result in “lower food prices at the checkout” by making trade with the EU cheaper and easier and would drive down energy bills by co-operating with Brussels.

Mrs von der Leyen said: “We are turning a page. We are opening a new chapter in our unique relationship.”

She insisted the UK’s decision to sign the agreement, which will involve closely following Brussels’ rules, was an expression of British sovereignty.

Measures covered in the UK-EU deal include:

– A 12-year extension of fishing arrangements when the current deal ends, allowing European vessels to operate in UK waters under the same terms until 2038.

– An open-ended new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement to slash red tape on food and drink exports and imports between the UK and EU.

– Some routine checks on plant and animal products will be removed completely and British burgers and sausages will once more be allowed into the EU.

– Linking UK and EU emissions-trading schemes which will mean British firms will not be hit by Brussels’ carbon tax next year.

– A security and defence partnership will pave the way for UK arms firms to bid for work under the EU’s proposed new £150 billion security action for Europe (Safe) fund.

– The UK and EU have agreed to co-operate on a “youth experience scheme”, but British officials insisted numbers would be capped and stays would be time-limited.

– A commitment to work towards the UK associating with the Erasmus+ student exchange programme.

– British steel exports will be protected from new EU rules and restrictive tariffs, saving the beleaguered industry £25 million.

In striking the deal, the Prime Minister has had to balance the UK Government’s desperate search for measures to grow the economy with the backlash he will inevitably face from Brexit-supporting voters and political opponents.

The deal requires “dynamic alignment” – the UK following rules set by Brussels – in areas covering the SPS deal, emissions trading and potential cooperation in the electricity market.

That would mean the UK complying with rules over which, outside the EU, it would have a very limited influence.

The acceptance of some form of youth mobility programme, allowing young EU citizens to live, work and study in the UK and vice versa, has been politically controversial because of the UK Government’s drive to cut net migration.

Officials insisted the scheme being proposed would not breach the UK Government’s red line of not allowing the return of free movement, pointing to similar deals with Australia and New Zealand.

The “reset” deal also respects the UK Government’s other red lines of not returning to the customs union or single market, officials said.

The Tories branded the Lancaster House gathering a “surrender summit”.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said: “We’re becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again.

“And with no details on any cap or time limits on youth mobility, fears of free movement returning will only increase. This is very concerning.”

She said it had been “an amateur negotiation from the start, ending in a total sellout”.

Reform UK’s Nigel Farage said the 12-year deal on access for European boats “will be the end of the fishing industry”.

Mr Farage’s deputy leader Richard Tice said: “Labour surrenders. Brussels bureaucrats win again.”

But business groups welcomed the deal, with the British Retail Consortium’s Helen Dickinson saying it “will help keep costs down”.

Confederation of British Industry chief executive Rain Newton-Smith said: “After the turbulence of the last decade, today’s summit marks a leap forward in the EU-UK relationship.”

PA contributed to reporting for this article.