Keir Starmer hands European court power to impose EU rules on UK in leaked Brexit reset.uk
Leaked text of the UK-EU Brexit ‘reset’ shows that an EU court in Luxembourg will regain powers to tell the UK what to do
Keir Starmer has reportedly signed the EU ‘reset’ deal (Image: Getty)
Keir Starmer is handing a European court the power to make the UK follow EU rules, a leaked text of Sir Keir’s Brexit “reset” confirms. Nine years after the UK voted to take back control in the Brexit referendum, Labour is now giving control to foreign judges, a leaked copy of the Brexit deal shows.
Sir Keir and EU leaders will officially publish the new agreement at a London summit today. But in an embarrassing development for the Prime Minister, a leaked version of the text has already been published online. It includes measures making trade in animal and plant products between the EU and UK easier. A Common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area (SPA) will allow most animals, animal products, plants, and plant products to be transported between Great Britain and the European Union without much of the paperwork and checks currently required.
But the leaked agreement confirms: “The SPS Agreement should be subject to a dispute resolution mechanism with an independent arbitration panel that ensures the Court of Justice of the European Union is the ultimate authority for all questions of European Union law.”
It means the European Court of Justice, based in Luxembourg, will make rulings when there is a uncertainty about the rules or a claim that the rules are being broken, which the UK will have to accept.
And the agreement also makes it clear that the UK will have to accept rules made by the EU. It states that Britain will be consulted, but this means that the UK won’t ultimately be making the decision.
It states: “To ensure that it can put forward its view, the United Kingdom should be involved at an early stage and contribute appropriately for a country that is not a member of the European Union to the decision-shaping process of European Union legal acts in the fields covered by the obligation to dynamically align. The European Commission should consult the Government of the United Kingdom at an early stage of policy-making. These rights would not extend to participation in the work of the Council or its preparatory bodies.”
The agreement also confirms that the UK will sign up to a youth mobility scheme, rebranded a youth experience scheme, allowing young people from the UK and EU to work in each other’s countries. However it appears to avoid providing full details at this point.
Text published by the Telegraph states: “The European Commission and the United Kingdom should work towards a balanced youth experience scheme on terms to be mutually agreed.
“The scheme should facilitate the participation of young people from the European Union and the United Kingdom in various activities, such as work, studies, au-pairing, volunteering, or simply travelling, for a limited period of time. It should provide a dedicated visa path and ensure that the overall number of participants is acceptable to both sides.”
Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds insisted it was “completely wrong” to think that signing up to European food standards would make it harder for the UK to agree new deals with other countries in the future.
He was asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme if the UK Government securing a new deal on food with the European Union will restrict the country’s ability to secure deals with the US in future. The Labour cabinet minister said: “No, I think that is completely wrong. And we have shown it (to be) absolutely wrong.
“We have been absolutely clear in all of our trade negotiations, whether it’s with India, the US, the EU, the Gulf, South Korea, Switzerland, we will not change our food production standards.”
