Opening remarks
Madam President, Honourable Members.
I am pleased to participate in todays plenary debate on the preparations for the EU-UK Summit.
We have been working intensively with our UK partners to prepare the Summit on 19 May. This will be the first Summit at Leaders level since the UK left the EU, marking a significant milestone in our post-Brexit relationship.
President von der Leyen has met with UK Prime Minister Starmer on several occasions in recent months, most recently in London on 24 April.
They agree that the Summit is an opportunity to strengthen EU-UK cooperation in various areas. Both sides are committed to a positive Summit.
Exploratory discussions with the United Kingdom on a broad range of issues have taken place over the past weeks.
This is part of an ongoing process that will further develop at the Summit and beyond.
The EU and the UK are like-minded partners. In recent times, we have worked closely together on shared challenges, notably in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine.
Given the increasingly uncertain and complex geopolitical environment, it is all the more important that we continue to cooperate in this manner.
For our part, we see three broad areas where there is scope to further develop the EU-UK relationship:
- First, security and resilience. This includes deeper and more structured cooperation between the EU and the UK as close partners and like-minded allies in the face of unprecedented geopolitical challenges in our neighborhood. Defense and Security will likely be a focus of the Summit;
- Second, people-to-people contacts, which includes rebuilding bridges for our young people. This reflects our long-standing policy of putting citizens at the heart of EU-UK relations.
- Third, the protection of our planet and its resources. We aim to consolidate and advance cooperation on Sanitary and Phytosanitary matters, sustainable fisheries, climate, and energy.
We are working with our United Kingdom partners in pursuit of a balanced package that delivers tangible benefits to citizens across the EU and the United Kingdom.
Madam President, Honourable Members.
While we are committed to strengthening our relations with the United Kingdom, we continue to insist on the full, timely and faithful implementation of our existing agreements: the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Windsor Framework, and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
These agreements are the cornerstone of our bilateral relations and form a solid foundation for our cooperation.
As regards the Withdrawal Agreement, last week I co-chaired a meeting of the Joint Committee in London with my UK counterpart, Nick Thomas-Symonds. This was an important step on the road to the Summit.
Together, we expressed a clear commitment to the full, timely and faithful implementation of the Agreement in all its parts.
We welcomed important progress made in the areas of citizens rights as regards the true and extra cohort, and on the Windsor Framework as regards parcels and customs arrangements. Nevertheless, further work remains to be done, on other systemic citizens rights issues and on the Windsor Framework, for example on SPS.
As regards the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, it remains the most ambitious Free Trade Agreement the EU has concluded with any third country, and responds to UK Government red lines, which remain in place.
But that doesnt mean that we cannot more fully exploit the potential the Trade and Cooperation Agreement has to offer.
And it does not mean that we cannot further develop our cooperation in the areas I mentioned previously.
On the contrary, there is much we can still do together to strengthen our relationship.
The first EU-UK Summit will be an important moment to do just that.
I am looking forward to hearing your views during this debate today.
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Closing remarks
Madam President, Honourable members.
Thank you for your contributions to todays debate.
And thank you for your efforts more broadly to support the strengthening of the EU-UK relationship.
It is clear that we are living in a much-changed geopolitical landscape.
It has never been more important for us to work closely together, as well as with other like-minded partners.
Let me react to a few of the points you have raised today.
On security and defence, it is clear that we can do more to strengthen our cooperation in this area.
The White Paper for the Future of European Defence makes clear that the UK is an essential European ally, and states that cooperation should be enhanced in our mutual interest.
We want to be ambitious in this area and we see it as a core part of a renewed EU-UK agenda.
In the area of people-to-people contacts, we are very clear: people will always be at the heart of our relationship.
We cannot see each others citizens as mere statistics.
We want the Summit to bring tangible benefits to people on both sides.
For us, ambition in this area is an indispensable part of a renewed EU-UK agenda.
Amongst the other areas mentioned, we have been clear with the UK that fisheries are a priority for us.
The current arrangements for reciprocal access to waters expire in the middle of next year. For us, it is essential to reach an early agreement that protects the rights of our fishers and provides them with certainty and predictability.
We have also always been open to an SPS agreement with the UK. This would also further facilitate the flow of SPS goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland beyond what has already been achieved with the Windsor Framework.
We have also been open to linking our Emissions Trading Systems, but the detail of this is crucial.
And we want to strengthen our energy cooperation. President von der Leyen has been clear on this. There is more the EU and the UK can do together to exploit our potential in this area.
Madam President, Honourable members.
Let me conclude by thanking you once again for this exchange today.
The support of the European Parliament has always been a central feature of our approach to developing our post-Brexit relationship with the UK.
I remain very grateful for that, and I look forward to continuing our cooperation.