With the landmark “EU reset” summit just days away, a powerful call to action has been issued by Parliament’s Business and Trade Committee (BTC).
In a report published ahead of the Monday 19th meeting, MPs have laid out a pragmatic, security-first vision for rebuilding ties with the European Union—not to undo Brexit, but to make it work.
Drawing on testimony from industrial leaders, trade experts, and months of European fact-finding, the BTC’s message is clear: if Britain wants to escape economic stagnation and bolster national security, the route runs through Brussels.
Liam Byrne MP, Chair of the Committee, was blunt in his assessment. “It’s time to face facts,” he said. “If Britain wants to beat the forecasts and escape stagnation, we don’t need to pray to the bond markets—we need to unlock the Brussels dividend.”
The numbers support him. UK goods exports to the EU remain stubbornly flat—growing just 0.3% a year since 2019, compared with an OECD average of 4.2%. And while some government ministers still boast of pivoting to “Global Britain,” the reality is that 41% of UK goods exports still go to the EU—more than to the US, India, and Indo-Pacific combined.
Brexit, in its current form, has proved not to be an economic liberation, but a logistical and regulatory mire. And yet, the Committee argues, a new chapter is possible—without breaching the political red lines of rejoining the single market or customs union.
This week’s report, How to Strengthen UK-EU Relations: Policy Priorities for the Summit, identifies three pillars for negotiation: defending prosperity, energy cooperation, and smoothing trade. Each is backed by an overwhelming business consensus. Indeed, 95% of stakeholders support reducing border bureaucracy; more than 90% favour closer defence and infrastructure coordination; and up to 96% endorse deeper cooperation in digital regulation, financial services, and science.
The report’s centrepiece is a bold call for a UK-EU Defence and Security Pact—one that would open access to the EU’s proposed €150 billion SAFE defence fund. With war raging on Europe’s eastern frontier and threats proliferating in cyberspace and on Britain’s own shores, the logic is self-evident. If Britain truly seeks to lead in NATO and support Ukraine, working alongside Brussels is not an optional extra—it’s a strategic necessity.
Moreover, the Committee points to inefficiencies costing Britons dearly. National Grid estimates that post-Brexit misalignments in the electricity market are costing UK consumers up to €350 million a year. A reset could end that waste and strengthen Britain’s energy independence at the very moment it is most needed. As the report notes, aligning carbon border policies and deepening cross-border investment in offshore infrastructure could lower Net Zero costs and enhance security.
On trade, the report is refreshingly pragmatic. The BTC recommends a suite of measures to reduce frictions without reopening constitutional debates. Trusted trader schemes, a veterinary agreement to ease food exports, and simplified customs declarations could collectively unlock billions in trade while offering no threat to sovereignty. And with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders listing regulatory cooperation as a top-three priority, it’s clear industry is hungry for clarity and alignment.
The report also supports a UK-EU Youth Mobility Scheme, championed by ABTA and others, noting that the current system’s 12-month limits hinder planning and investment. Other schemes last up to three years—why not match them?
For all its ambition, the report is carefully couched in realism. It does not call for rejoining EU institutions or surrendering parliamentary control. Rather, it aims to rebuild trust and coherence within the framework of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement—an agreement many feared might become a dead letter.
Best for Britain estimates that “deep alignment in goods” alone could grow UK GDP by up to 1.5% and lift bilateral exports by around $20 billion. This is not nostalgia for Remain—it is the hard-nosed economics of growth and investment.
The BTC’s proposals are not without challenges. Eurosceptics in Parliament will balk at any move that suggests deeper integration, however pragmatic. Yet this is not about reversing Brexit; it is about recovering Britain’s influence, prosperity, and security in a world that grows more dangerous by the day.
The choice, then, is stark. Continue down a path of isolation and underperformance—or embrace a reset that plays to Britain’s strengths as a scientific, trading, and military power at the heart of Europe’s defence.
At its best, Brexit was meant to unleash sovereignty and strategy. But sovereignty, as any general will tell you, is meaningless without strength. And strength, in the 21st century, comes not from splendid isolation but from strategic alliances.
Monday’s summit may be the most consequential UK-EU meeting since the Brexit deal was signed. It is an opportunity not just to patch things up, but to set a new course—one where Britain can trade, defend, and innovate alongside its neighbours, on its own terms.
The Brussels dividend is real. The question now is whether the Government has the courage to claim it.
