German-language media is optimistically dubbing it the “Breturn”. How will the new UK-EU agreement impact Brits and other international people living in the federal republic?
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced on Monday that the UK and EU have amended their post-Brexit deal.
The announcement comes five years after the UK left the EU, with von der Leyen hailing it a “new chapter” and Starmer an opportunity to “move on from stale old debates and political fights to common sense”.
While an outline of the deal has been announced, further negotiations are expected to take months or even a year, and a date from which the new agreement will apply has not yet been set. The UK and the EU Commission agreed to proceed “swiftly”.
The changes are set to be fairly limited for both sides, with Starmer reiterating on Tuesday that the UK was "not rejoining the EU". Here’s what we know about the deal so far:
Under the new deal, regular security talks will be held between the UK and EU, and the UK will have access to the EU’s newly developed 150-billion-euro rearmerment fund known as “Safe”.
According to a communique seen by The Guardian, “Safe” is designed to “help the EU and the UK boost support for Ukraine” and support “efforts on peace-building, crisis management, countering cyber-attacks and other hybrid attacks, including threats to subsea cables.”
Perhaps one of the biggest planned changes, both the EU and the UK will no longer be obliged to carry out sanitary and phytosanitary checks (SPS) on meat and cheese, animal products generally, timber, wool and leather imported from the UK or the EU.
The new policy will bring financial and bureaucratic relief for UK cheese and meat producers exporting to the EU, and EU producers exporting to the UK.
EU fishers will now have access to UK waters until 2038, and fish caught in UK waters will again be sold in supermarkets in the EU without having to go through veterinary checks.
The UK and EU have agreed that UK citizens will soon be allowed to use e-gates at passport control in EU airports. The UK government assured that the change would end “dreaded queues at border control”.
However, this policy is unlikely to be implemented until 2026, since the EU is first required to adopt its new “European Union Entry/Exit System” and even then, individual EU countries will be able to decide if UK passport holders can use e-gates when they arrive at their borders.
SPS checks will also be lifted on travelling pets. Under the new agreement, “pets will also be able to travel more easily, with the introduction of ‘pet passports’ for UK cats and dogs – eliminating the need for animal health certificates for every trip.”
The UK and the EU said that the new agreement will make it easier for UK and EU nationals on business to enter and stay short-term in the UK and across the bloc.
Easing these conditions will include reintroducing work sponsorship schemes and systems to recognise professional qualifications.
While the finer details are yet to be ironed out, the UK plans to rejoin the EU’s Erasmus+ education exchange programme.
“I'm so glad that we have agreed that we will have Erasmus+ for young people, and that we will work towards a youth experience scheme [...] this will allow the next generation to once again live and study in each other's countries, and this will build friendships that will last a lifetime,” von der Leyen said in her announcement.
The UK and EU will reintroduce new visa schemes for “youth experiences”. These visas will make it easier for UK and EU nationals to travel for work, studies, au pairing, volunteering or travelling for an extended but limited period.
It is yet unclear how long this “limited period” would be, but reports suggest it could be as long as one year.
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