UK and EU close in on Brexit ‘reset’ deal

LONDON — Andy Burnham will head to Brussels this month to “reset” Brexit. Two weeks out, a landing zone for a deal with the EU looks increasingly clear. The negotiations, which began under Burnham’s predecessor Keir Starmer, include a new agrifood agreement, a deal to link emissions trading systems and new visas for young people. Draft texts on all three main agreements have now been largely concluded and are making their way through the EU’s approval process, three people familiar with the state of negotiations, and granted anonymity to speak freely, told POLITICO.

On top of the three new agreements, Brussels and London will also negotiate a joint statement covering other parts of the relationship. The U.K. and EU have been locked in talks on the agreements for 18 months. They were then delayed over the summer after the collapse of the Starmer premiership. As POLITICO previously reported , the deal on emissions trading has been effectively finished for weeks. It will exempt both sides from each others’ CBAM carbon border taxes and reduce long-term volatility and unlock investment in emissions markets.

Agrifood The hard parts of the planned agrifood agreement — also known as a sanitary and phytosanitary agreement (SPS) — have also been rounded off. The U.K. will dynamically align with the union’s SPS rules, but get carve-outs on precision breeding, novel foods and transitional provisions on pesticides. Under the deal struck, London would be allowed to keep its existing regulatory system on precision-bred products while Brussels sets up one of its own.

The U.K. would then transition to the EU system. British producers will also be able to continue experimenting with novel foods — but a system of labeling will ensure that products not permitted in the EU don’t make it across the Channel. U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham helps to stack loaves of bread with London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Pat McFadden during a visit to a Sainsbury's supermarket in London on Aug. 26, 2026. | Pool photo by Richard Pohle via AFP/Getty Images The U.K. will ultimately align with EU rules on pesticides, but transitional provisions will soften the blow to farmers currently using products that will be banned.

Youth mobility By far the trickiest of the three files has been the question of youth mobility. The EU is now on board with the U.K.’s plan for a cap on the number of visas in the youth mobility scheme, though haggling continues on the exact figure, which is expected to fall between 80,000 and 100,000. Questions about the reciprocity of the scheme with all EU member countries also need to be worked out. A late EU demand to cut tuition fees for European students studying in Britain is set to be separated from the wider question of youth mobility — and is due to be dealt with after the summit — according to a draft proposal for the statement drawn up by the EU and seen by POLITICO.

The U.K. has long said it is open to the idea — but only in exchange for guarantees it won’t be hit by the EU’s Made in Europe program. The EU’s wave of protectionist policies has been threatening to harm British businesses, and London wants them insulated from any ill effects. The EU says it can’t give guarantees on Made in Europe at this point because the legislation is still being finalized. The U.K. doesn’t want to commit hundreds of millions of pounds without something to balance the cost.

Joint statement These issues will be acknowledged at the summit in the planned joint statement — but not immediately solved. The draft proposal for the statement says that the two sides will “work towards” an agreement for EU students to pay domestic tuition fees — with the aim of concluding it in the next six months. An Erasmus stand with European flags is seen in Perpignan, France on Feb. 6, 2025. | Jc Milhet/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images The draft says that once the three main agreements have been concluded, the EU would look forward to their “joint and timely entry into force” — reiterating that the deals come as a package.

EU diplomats have previously said talks on tuition fees would need to be successful before the rest of the package could come into force. On Made in Europe, the draft says both sides will “commit, on the basis of reciprocity, to strive, wherever possible, to limit negative effects on one another in their measures impacting specific supply chains where it is in their mutual interest.” It also calls for the U.K. to mirror some EU policies.

Whether London would be happy with this remains to be seen. The joint statement is a jack-of-all-trades and a place for the two sides to address issues that don’t need a new international agreement. It could include commitments to do new things under the existing Security and Defense Partnership. Brussels’ draft, for example, suggests the “immediate” establishment of a dialogue on “economic security.” It also says both sides will provide support for Ukraine “for as long as it takes” and decries the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the West Bank.

The EU’s draft also seeks a U.K. commitment to halve the “early removal and deportation of foreign national offenders from the UK to the EU Member States” — a policy which is raising concerns in some EU capitals, as POLITICO first reported . Burnham told his party in September that he wanted to use the meeting as a staging post to set out “options” for the future of Britain’s relationship with the EU — perhaps including rejoining. It’s unlikely that will happen at the summit itself, with an intervention instead expected around the same time.