The EU reset, sixteen months on: what the London deal actually changed
The May 2025 summit promised a new strategic partnership. Some of it is real; much of it is still negotiation.
Sixteen months ago, at the first EU-UK leaders' summit in London on 19 May 2025, the Government and the European Union declared a reset of the post-Brexit relationship. The summit produced a joint statement, a Security and Defence Partnership, and a Common Understanding setting a renewed agenda. What has it actually changed?
On defence, the partnership is the most concrete achievement: a structured foreign-policy dialogue, cooperation across security domains, and a path toward British participation in the EU's SAFE joint defence procurement programme. The terms of that participation, including any budget contribution, are still to be settled.
On trade, the centrepiece is the sanitary and phytosanitary agreement to ease agri-food trade: fewer checks and certifications for British exporters, from meat to cheese to shellfish. The Government said the reforms could add 9 billion pounds to the economy by 2040. The price is dynamic alignment with EU food standards and, on disputes over EU law, the European Court of Justice as final arbiter.
The reset is real, but it is a beginning, not a settlement.Daily Herald
Fishing, the perennial irritant, was settled for a generation: full reciprocal access to waters until 30 June 2038. Energy cooperation was extended on a permanent basis.
What remains negotiation is almost as long as what was agreed: a youth mobility scheme, UK association with the Erasmus+ programme, participation in the EU's internal electricity market, and the linking of emissions trading systems.
The politics are unchanged in one respect: the reset revives the oldest Brexit argument, whether Britain is becoming a rule-taker. Ministers insist the partnership serves the national interest; critics see alignment without a vote.
Judged as diplomacy, the summit moved the relationship from managed antagonism to structured cooperation. Judged as economics, the dividend is prospective. The reset is real, but it is a beginning, not a settlement.
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