Chicago – May 20, 2025
The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed to a landmark deal aimed at “resetting” their post-Brexit relationship, easing restrictions on travel and work for hundreds of millions of people on the continent.
The pact, agreed at a summit in London on Monday, followed months of negotiations between Downing Street and Brussels. It includes agreements on defense, migration, work and travel — and leaders on each side of the Channel will hope it leaves behind years’ worth of tensions.
“This is a historic moment,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer as they unveiled the deal on Monday. “We’re turning a page. We’re opening a new chapter in our unique relationship.”
“Britain is back on the world stage,” Starmer added following the meetings at Lancaster House.
But the deal has already threatened to open old wounds; Starmer has been criticized by leaders on Britain’s resurgent populist right, who have claimed the deal weakens the UK’s sovereignty.
Starmer’s office added that it hoped the changes would ultimately “lower food prices and increase choice on supermarket shelves” but was resolute that they do not cross certain “red lines” central to the government’s vision of Brexit, including remaining outside of the EU’s single market and customs union.
