Brexit

How Brexit has caused a renaissance of European Liberalism

How can two separated partners find to one another after a break-up? How much time do they need? Where do they start? And might external factors accelerate the process of regaining trust? When looking at EU-UK relations in the post-Brexit era, there seemed to be only little prospect for actual reconciliation. Then, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the election of President Trump in the United States, and the related geopolitical shifts followed and pushed the EU and the UK closer together again. The results of the recent EU-UK summit in London offers a glimpse of hope. But more than five years after the UK left the bloc, is a glimpse of hope enough for Europe? How does this development affect for Germany? And most of all: Can it be seen as a reset of European liberalism?

Reassembling Broken Pieces: EU-UK Relations After Brexit

14 years of Conservative party rule, including the Brexit referendum, tedious negotiations of the withdrawal agreement and eventually the UK’s exit from the EU, concluded on 4 July 2024. Sir Keir Starmer scored a resounding election victory. Ursula von der Leyen congratulated the new Prime Minister on X (previously Twitter) and carefully tested the waters towards close cooperation: “I look forward to working with you in a constructive partnership to address common challenges and strengthen European security.” Exactly two weeks later, von der Leyen was re-elected as Commission President. Starmer’s congratulations to his European counterpart appeared to be bolder: “I look forward to working closely with you to reset the relationship between the UK and the European Union.”

Maybe it was the renewal of government in the United Kingdom in conjunction with executive stability in the European Union which allowed for new trust: Several meetings between Starmer, von der Leyen and later newly elected European Council President António Costa followed. Starmer even joined the EU27 leaders at a retreat on defence in February, the first British Prime Minister to do so since Brexit. But the EU-UK Summit in London on 19 May 2025 comes closest to what can actually be described as a “reset” in EU-UK relations.

The EU-UK Summit at a Glance

So, what’s in it? During the Summit, the leaders of the EU and the UK announced a new strategic partnership covering a wide range of fields, including defence, security, energy, climate, agrifood rules, fisheries, migration and youth mobility. Concrete results were merely presented in the form of a Security and Defence Partnership and a political agreement on reciprocal water access for the fish industries until 2038. Nevertheless, a Joint Statement offered an opportunity to reiterate shared values in the global context and the Common Understanding revealed the goals of the upcoming negotiations between both partners.

The Security and Defence partnership paves the way for the UK to gain access to the newly proposed EU initiative “Security Action for Europe (SAFE)”. This loan instrument would allow the European Commission to borrow up to €150 billion on capital markets to facilitate defence investments for the EU Member States. UK participation would be quite attractive for the British defence industry, as European countries could use the money to rearm with British defence products. Von der Leyen is very likely to face backlash back home, especially from countries such as France which has been advocating for investments in production “made in the EU”. Germany will likely welcome the move, having advocated for opening up SAFE to industries of allied countries such as the UK.

On the other side of the Channel, Starmer is already facing backlash for the agreement on fisheries. Both the Reform and the Conservative party are heavily criticising the decision as a deadly move for the British fishing industry. Though only accounting for 0.04% of the UK’s GDP, the industry has often sparked a particularly sentimental and politically sensitive debate. Starmer’s hope lies in the future agreement on agrifood rules with an anticipated boost of 20% of UK exports to the EU, including for the fishing sector.

Starmer needs this kind of good news, as his government centres its political priorities around recovering the UK’s tarnished economy. As a recent publication by the Centre for European Reform (CER) points out, trade has been missing as part of the government’s recovery plans. As the CER suggests, trade has historically supported growth both in productivity and the UK’s GDP. With additional pressure from the other side of the Atlantic, Starmer needs to step up his trade game. The importance of the trade opportunities for the British side might also explain why the UK put trade first in their website report about the Summit conclusions, while the EU followed the documents’ structure and starts with global affairs in theirs.

For Germany, any trade boost can only be welcomed. Both the European Commission and the German Council of Economic Experts corrected their growth forecast for Germany in 2025, now expecting zero growth. Trump’s tariff policy increases uncertainty for German investors in times where investments are desperately needed. The EU-UK agreements could provide a small boost for the stagnating German economy. Marc Lehnfeld, Director of Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) in the UK, expects important cost-savings for German companies through the linking of electricity markets. And Volker Treier, Chief Executive of Foreign Trade at the German Chamber of Commerce & Industry, sees particular potential for the defence industry, the services sector and regulatory cooperation. It remains to be seen to which extent the anticipated agreements will actually turn into noticeable growth for Germany.

But is it Liberal?

While the Summit is of course a good sign for EU-UK relations, the question arises as to whether it can also be seen as a reset for European liberalism. As the trade implications might already suggest, some parts of the agreement clearly steer into the direction of liberal values. Food safety agreements could cut red tape, facilitate checks and thereby liberalise trade between the two partners. Similar liberal sentiments originate from agreements to exempt British steel exports from new EU tariffs, connect electricity markets and collaborate in energy development.

But even beyond the obvious trade aspects pointing towards more liberal EU-UK relations, there lies a liberal renaissance of market-based thinking in the Summit results. The potential participation of the UK in SAFE is a clear liberal step towards a more open market-oriented approach in defence investments among allies, in contrast to a more protectionist approach only allowing investments in the EU. The promised link of emissions trading systems does not only reduce additional burdens by avoiding carbon border taxes. It also strengthens the market-based approach of emission-trading systems to tackle climate change.

And last, but not least, there is also social dimension of liberalism included in the Summit agreements: Mobility, and especially youth mobility is set to be a focus of future negotiations. British travellers might soon be able to save time by using more e-gates at passport control when entering the EU. The two partners are also preparing to create a new “youth experience scheme” (most likely avoiding the word “mobility” to decrease further opposition with Reform and the Conservatives) and work on the UK’s association to Erasmus+. These initiatives, aiming at facilitating the freedom of movement, show an additional, inherently liberal side of the Summit.

… and is it Enough?

As mentioned already, most of the proposals from the EU-UK Summit have yet to be negotiated, agreed upon and finally implemented. While the liberal imprint is clearly visible, there was potential for more. The Liberal Democrats in the UK have rightfully emphasised the need for a new EU-UK customs union. This would not only boost business in both the UK and the EU, but it would also be a necessary, strong signal towards the illiberal Trump government and its continuous tariff fetish. The British government still seems to be way too apprehensive in this regard.

The Summit can indeed be seen as a reset for EU-UK relations, maybe even for European liberalism. However, this conclusion can only be given with a certain benefit of the doubt for both the EU and the UK to stay true to their promises and most importantly not to stop there. Costa called the summit “the first of many”. And while this might be interpreted as a sign of constant cooperation, it also demonstrates there is still a lot of work to be done.

The reset offered by the Summit can only be the foundation of a truly new chapter of EU-UK relations where liberalism is the key principle. Both the EU and the UK need an even closer economic ties, and both need to refocus on their liberal values. Germany should support these efforts. The next summits must identify even more and deeper ways of liberal cooperation between the partners. Only then can they create more economic growth, freedoms for their citizens and geostrategic independence shared by allies.

Julius Graack is a liberal European affairs enthusiast with a bachelor's degree in economics and philosophy and previous experience as a policy advisor in the European Parliament. He is currently based in London where he is pursuing a master's programme in Rhetoric at Royal Holloway, University of London. As a consultant for the FNF Europe office in Brussels, he monitors topics around the EU-UK liberal dialogue.