Backed by a press conference, the latest ‘deals’ from the British government’s ‘reset’ with the European Union have been published.
As predicted, the EU will enjoy fishing rights in British waters until 2038 (in contrast to the Brexit deal expiring next year, which saw the UK ‘take back control’ of a quarter of EU fishing quotas).
The UK can now also:
- accept dynamic alignment in the ‘sanitary and phytosanitary deal;’
- negotiate to rejoin student exchange scheme Erasmus+;
- believe an EU promise of work to ease travel for artists;
- expect reduced checks on the movement of agricultural and high-carbon exports.
A security pact is now in place to bolster Security Action for Europe (Safe) defence project loans—which critics see as a precursor to an army under Brussels command—while talks will continue about the controversial ‘youth’ (under-35s) mobility scheme.
Subsequently, government representatives spent much of Monday, May 19th, welcoming the renewed ability of British passport holders to use EU e-gates at airports when travelling.
In short, the various packages give a lot away for relatively little—and are actively destructive for Britain’s fishing industry. Suspicions are increasing that this is an attempt to reverse Brexit rather than merely ‘reset’ relations with the EU.
