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Sir Keir Starmer should agree a “comprehensive” agreement enabling young people to study and work in the UK and EU as part of next year’s “reset” talks aimed at easing trade barriers, a leading UK trade lobby group has said.
call before British Chambers of Commerce This puts it at odds with the Labor government, which has repeatedly ruled out signing such an agreement, despite EU negotiators making clear it would be a key part of any deal to improve trade relations.
The “Youth Mobility” deal is one of 13 recommendations from A BCC report On how to reform the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The two sides agreed in December 2020 when Britain left the European Union, leading more than 16,000 small businesses to leave trade with the bloc entirely, according to the analysis. Published this month By the London School of Economics.
Other requests include more flexibility for business travellers, a cooperation agreement on value-added tax, linking the EU and UK carbon trading schemes, and joining the pan-European agreement on trade in goods, known as the Pan-European-Mediterranean Agreement or PEM. “.
Shivon Haviland, director general of the British Chamber of Commerce, said that while ministers had often talked about resetting trade relations with the EU, they now needed to take concrete action to drive trade and deliver on their promises to boost economic growth.
“Our modeling suggests that if exports had grown by 1 percent in 2024, compared to our forecast of a 2 percent contraction, the economy would have grown to 1.7 percent instead of 0.8 percent. That is a big difference,” she said.
“We need to see a smart and flexible approach to these negotiations. Our businesses are clear about what they want to see, reduced paperwork and bureaucracy, increased flexibility in business travel and a balanced plan for youth mobility between the UK and the EU,” she said.
The requests from the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which represents 53 chambers of commerce across the country, are far more ambitious than the Prime Minister’s current “reset” plans.
Although Labor promised in its election manifesto to “remove barriers to trade” with Europe, this goal is limited by a pledge not to rejoin the EU single market, the customs union, or return to the free movement of people.
Ministers therefore limited the trade elements of the reset to three areas set out in the statement: an agreement to ease visas for musicians, improved recognition of professional qualifications, and a so-called veterinary agreement to ease border frictions for EU-UK trade in food. And plant products.
It appears that the negotiations, which are expected to begin in mid-2025, will be difficult indeed. The European Union has Previously ruled To reach agreement on musicians, demands politically sensitive 'dynamic consensus' on EU rules for veterinary deal, warns no deal will be reached Without early concessions On the right to fish in UK coastal waters.
But Haviland warned that the problems created by Brexit have not subsided four years after the TCA came into force, and in many respects are “getting worse” as a result of the continuing divergence between EU and UK regulations.
The British Chambers of Commerce report, titled “A Manifesto to Reset UK-EU Trade,” said member companies continued to report that Brexit red tape covering customs, VAT and other regulatory burdens was holding back their growth.
“Four years after negotiating the TCA, 40 percent of exporters disagree that it helps them grow,” the report said, citing a member survey conducted in the summer of 2024.
The survey also warned of challenges posed by upcoming EU regulations, such as carbon taxes at the border from January 2026, all of which will add bureaucratic burdens on trade.
“Awareness of upcoming changes to trade rules and regulations being made by the UK or EU was also worryingly low, with more than three-quarters of businesses knowing no details of much of the legislation,” the report said.
The government said it was “resetting the relationship with our European friends to strengthen relations, secure a broad security agreement and address barriers to trade.”
He added: “We have made clear that there will be no return to the customs union, the single market or freedom of movement.”
Data visualization by Amy Burritt
