A Renewed Agenda for European Union – United Kingdom Cooperation

On 19 May 2025, the leaders of the European Union (António Costa, President of the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission) and the United Kingdom (Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) met in London for the first EU-UK summit since the UK withdrew from the EU.

At the end of the meeting, the leaders adopted three documents, among which a Common Understanding setting out the conclusions of the exploratory talks on areas for potential strengthened bilateral cooperation. Those areas are clasified under the following headings:

• Security, defence, and development cooperation, comprising security and defence; cooperation on maritime security and safety; development and disaster cooperation; health security.
• Putting people at the centre of the European Union – United Kingdom relationship.
• Strengthening our economies while protecting our planet and its resources, comprising energy cooperation (exploring the participation of the United Kingdom in the European Union’s internal electricity market); new technologies; working towards a Common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area; working towards linking Emission Trading Systems of the European Union and the United Kingdom; provision of services through entry and temporary stay of natural persons for business purposes; competition cooperation.
• Internal security and judicial cooperation, comprising reinforced law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal matters; judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters; cooperation in relation to drugs risks and threats.
• Irregular migration, comprising upstream migration; working together on practical solutions and returns; bolstering United Kingdom and European Union border security including through law enforcement cooperation; addressing challenges and abuses of visa policy

In spite of the assertion according to which ‘The UK and the European Commission agreed that it is in their mutual interest to deepen people-to-people ties, particularly for the younger generation’, only a vague non-committal paragraph (number 55) is devoted to judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters:

The European Commission and the United Kingdom note the importance of the positive judicial cooperation in civil and commercial law, including family matters. In this context, they welcome that the Hague Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters will enter into force for the United Kingdom on 1 July 2025.

No mention to cooperation in the area appears in the dedicated website of the European Council listing the main results of the summit.

In a Joint Statement  the leaders of the UK and of the EU have agreed to hold annual summits in order to strengthen the bilateral relationship.