Resetting the UK-EU Relationship (European Affairs Committee Report)

Baroness Suttie Excerpts

Thursday 26th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Suttie (LD)]

My Lords, I too congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Ricketts. It is a credit to his diplomatic chairing skills, as well as the excellent committee staff, that we were able in the end to produce this excellent and comprehensive report. The committee began its work on this inquiry a little over a year ago, when President Trump had just started his second term. This week, we have marked the fourth anniversary of the devastating war in Ukraine. It is through the prism of those two events that we have to view the reset of our relations with the European Union.

June this year will see the 10th anniversary of the EU referendum. It is now quite hard to find anyone, on either side of the argument, who believes that the process and outcomes following Brexit have been positive—not least because of the strain it has put on the unity of this country, perhaps most of all in Northern Ireland. Resetting our relationship with the EU is not just a good thing to do; it is increasingly a necessity—for our economy, our trade and our security.

Last year’s summit in May was welcome but so far has been longer on rhetoric than tangible outcomes. A commitment to an SPS agreement is welcome and could do much to boost trade. However, it would be helpful to know from the Minister whether the Government expect substantial progress to be made on that agreement in time for this year’s EU-UK summit.

As the noble Lord, Lord Ricketts, said, with an SPS agreement comes the issue of dynamic alignment. This raises important questions of parliamentary oversight and transparency and of how to feed into the EU’s policy development process at an earlier stage. It would be good to hear in the Minister’s closing remarks more details of the Government’s thinking in this regard. In particular, is it the intention to substantially increase the UK’s influencing capacity in Brussels? How, in practical terms, do the Government intend to ensure parliamentary oversight, particularly in the House of Commons, which no longer has a European affairs committee?

In the past the UK played a pivotal role in driving EU enlargement, which we always regarded as a process for positive change. Clearly, our influence on these matters is now much diminished, but what is the Government’s position on a fast-track approach to Ukrainian membership of the EU? Might such an approach also be in the UK’s best interest?

We on these Benches favour the closest possible relations with our European partners. The Government should be congratulated on removing some of the toxicity of the years immediately following Brexit, but I now hope that they can begin to match the positive words with concrete actions and courage.