in-cyprus 8 June 2025
By Michael Tatham, British High Commissioner to Cyprus
On 19 May, the United Kingdom Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, met with Presidents Von Der Leyen and Costa for the first ever High-Level Summit between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
This was a significant moment. It represented a positive shift in the UK-EU relationship – away from negotiating on the terms of the UK’s departure and towards establishing a forward-looking partnership that will benefit both the UK and the EU.
Brexit is a reality and the UK Government is clear that it respects the result of the 2016 referendum. It has set out and held firm to clear red lines – no return to the single market, no return to customs union and no return to freedom of movement. But it is also clear that it is in the UK’s interests to have a close, strong and productive relationship with the EU. The UK is part of Europe. The UK and EU have many shared interests and face many of the same challenges. We are surely each stronger when we are working together.
That is the spirit in which the UK-EU High-Level Summit was held and its outcomes provide an exciting pathway for future collaboration.
We have agreed a UK-EU Security and Defence Partnership, a reflection of our shared geography, history and values. This will boost UK-EU cooperation across a broad range of areas including supporting Ukraine, tackling hybrid threats and strengthening the resilience of our critical infrastructure. It will enable closer institutional cooperation including through working together in multilateral organisations and through crisis response. This Partnership will build on the practical cooperation that is already happening, for example over supporting Ukraine. And it will complement our existing bilateral partnerships with EU members, of which the ambitious Strategic Dialogue between the UK and Cyprus is a good example.
We have also agreed a UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary zone which will cut down on bureaucracy and border checks on agri-food products. This should help boost trade between the UK and the EU, our largest agri-food market but one that has seen a reduction since Brexit in both exports into the EU and imports from the EU.
The Summit covered a number of other issues. It agreed to closer cooperation on energy which will strengthen energy security and help us achieve our net zero goals including through linking the UK’s emissions trading schemes with those of the EU. On fisheries, the UK and EU agreed a twelve-year access arrangement on the same terms as the current arrangements which provide for reciprocal access to UK and EU waters.
The UK and Cyprus have strong people to people connection and Cypriots often share concerns with me about the impact of Brexit on youth and educational exchanges. In this area, the Summit agreed that we will work towards a youth experiences scheme with the EU that will create new opportunities for cultural exchanges. We also agreed to work towards association to Erasmus + which would open up the possibilities for a broad range of exchanges covering school exchanges, work placements, language course and semesters abroad.
All of this makes for an ambitious agenda and one that the UK will pursue with confidence and determination. In addition to these agreements with the EU (the UK’s largest market), the UK has also in recent weeks concluded a trade deal with India (the world’s fastest growing economy) and the US (the world’s richest economy). Collectively, these agreements show an outward-facing Britain actively promoting strong and open global trading relationships and wholly committed to free and fair trade on the international stage.
We are grateful for the support that the Republic of Cyprus has provided to the UK/EU agreements. President Christodoulides was the first EU Head of State or Government to meet with the UK Prime Minister following the Summit and has publicly highlighted the significance of the agreements. The UK looks forward to working closely with Cyprus on the goal of further strengthening the UK/EU relationship during Cyprus’ forthcoming Presidency of the European Union.
