News
Good morning and welcome to your Sunday morning Unbound Daily Briefing - topics we are covering this morning include:
- EU Rejects Manifesto Breaking UK Govt Offer of Single Market For Goods
- EU Reset Summit Set to be Delayed
- UK Fast-Track Membership, But Has to be Full Fat Membership
EU Rejects Manifesto Breaking UK Govt Offer of Single Market For Goods
As originally broken by reporters at The Guardian late on Friday evening, and since corroborated by UK Government officials, the UK Government proposed to the EU that the reset negotiations include the UK rejoining the Single Market, but just for goods trade. This request was reportedly rejected, as the EU position continues to be that the so-called "four freedoms" of the EU Single Market have to be taken as a package, and that the UK was effectively trying to cherry-pick just the free movement of goods without the other three (people, services and capital).
The Labour Government made a manifesto promise to not return to the EU Single Market, so this attempt is in effect a breach of their manifesto commitments on which they were elected.
EU Reset Summit to be Delayed
As has been widely reported on in recent weeks, but with closer attention in the last few days, the heavily advertised EU-UK Summit this summer has reportedly had to be delayed from originally May then to June, and now to July. This delay is reportedly down to EU demands increasing past UK red lines, and the UK Prime Minister's position being unstable and so unable to negotiate.
The primary stumbling block appears to be on Youth Mobility, and the wish for the EU to receive heavily discounted rates for their students attending UK universities. The UK position in 2024 was that Youth Mobility was an EU demand that was not on the table, but this has since been conceded and is now advertised by the UK Government as something beneficial to the UK - however the UK position remains that this mobility scheme would have a cap, and this is reportedly unacceptable to the EU who have significant levels of youth unemployment across the bloc.
The team here at Britain Unbound will not shed any tears over EU Reset delays, as believe the entire negotiation to be one-sided and a capitulation. So will be watching this story unfold very closely.
- Read the early reports of this story in The i Paper
- Read the original position of the UK Government on Youth Mobility
- Read the Britain Unbound Explainer, on the EU Reset Negotiations
UK Fast-Track Re-Entry, But Would Have to Be Full Fat
In an exclusive interview with The Independent published yesterday evening, the chair of the European Delegation to the UK-EU Parliamentary Assembly, Sandro Gozi, stated that there was the possibility of the UK being able to be "fast-tracked" back into EU membership should the UK wish to do so - but poured cold water on the aspirations of those campaigning to remain when again reiterating that this would be a full membership without opt outs and financial rebates.
Despite the heavily advertised polling in the UK suggesting that the British voter wants to return to EU membership, the polling that is not so heavily advertised has consistently shown that having to accept the Euro is a deal breaker on its own - this answer has been consistent in over 60 polls conducted over the past few years.
- Read the interview in The Independent
