The UK and the EU go into their second summit on 20 November with draft agreements on food checks, emissions trading and youth mobility largely settled, according to multiple reports, leaving British access to the EU's "Made in Europe" rules and tuition fees for EU students as the main unresolved items on the table.
The summit in Brussels, where António Costa and Ursula von der Leyen will host Prime Minister Andy Burnham, is the first since the strategic partnership agreed in London on 19 May 2025. A follow-up meeting planned for July was postponed after Keir Starmer resigned, Agence Europe reported. The Council of the EU said when it confirmed the date on 12 October that leaders are expected to issue a joint declaration.
The BBC reported that a text of roughly 200 pages on sanitary and phytosanitary checks, the regime governing trade in food, plants and animals, went to EU ambassadors on 4 November, with trade publications describing the deal as agreed in principle. The House of Lords Library says the talks are expected to be formally concluded at the summit. The government estimates the agreement could add up to £5.1bn a year to the economy in the long run, a ceiling rather than a forecast, and lift the volume of major UK agricultural exports to the EU by 16 per cent.
The Guardian reported on 2 November that two issues remained open: tuition fees for EU students and UK inclusion in Made in Europe. The paper said the UK was prepared to meet a reported cost of £450m a year by letting EU students pay home fees, provided it secured access to the EU rules. That figure comes from unnamed sources and is not a published government costing.
An unnamed source told the Guardian: "The biggest prize we are pushing for right now is access to Made in Europe, so there is a deal to be done there."
Made in Europe sits within the Industrial Accelerator Act, which the European Commission proposed on 4 March. The Commission's draft would let content from countries with an EU free-trade agreement, or that belong to the World Trade Organisation's procurement agreement, count as EU-origin, and Make UK says the UK would fall within that by default. The draft also allows the Commission to remove third countries from that treatment, according to the Institute of Directors.
The act is not yet law. The European Parliament's three lead committees are scheduled to vote on 1 December, after the summit, with more than 5,000 amendments tabled, Agence Europe reported. The Guardian reported that access to Made in Europe is due to be finalised next year, and the Council's official summit description does not mention the rules at all.
France and Germany have set conditions. A Franco-German paper dated 15 October said extending Made in Europe treatment for the car sector to the UK should depend on reciprocity and alignment with EU measures on third-country investment and trade defence, according to Chatham House. The leaders of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Lower Saxony have called for the UK to be included, electrive reported on 12 November.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said: "The UK and EU are bound by €80 billion in annual automotive trade and millions of jobs."
Wes Streeting, speaking in Brussels on 2 November alongside Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat, warned that the Made in Europe push should not turn into protectionism, according to Alliance News.
Accounts of the fees question differ. The i reported on 22 October that France and Germany were ready to drop the demand for now, while the Guardian reported the same week that France was still arguing for an all-or-nothing package. The House of Commons Library cites a leaked draft statement that would commit the UK to negotiate a separate agreement on fees.
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