Lord Frost

This Government's priority is to reset the relationship with our European friends, including through a broad-based security pact and tackling barriers to trade.

On 2 October, the Prime Minister and the President of the European Commission met and released a joint statement on enhancing strategic cooperation.

The Minister for the Constitution and European Union Relations is taking forward this work with his counterpart, Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, and we will hold a UK-EU Summit next year to review progress. We are committed to being as open and transparent as possible with Parliament.

The Government has already begun working to reset the relationship with our European friends and to put the UK’s relationship with the EU on a more solid, stable footing. The Prime Minister met with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on 2 October and they agreed to strengthen the UK-EU relationship in areas including the economy, energy, resilience and security; and to hold the first UK-EU Summit in early 2025. The Minister for the Constitution and European Union Relations is taking forward this work with his counterpart in the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič, who was confirmed on 27 November.

On 14 October the Foreign Secretary attended the EU Foreign Affairs Council and agreed with the then High Representative, Borrell, to advance work towards a security partnership. They also agreed that the UK and EU will establish a biannual Foreign Policy Dialogue between the UK Foreign Secretary and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs to enable strategic cooperation on the highest priority issues, with the first meeting in early 2025. In addition, they also agreed to a number of regular UK-EU strategic consultations to sit underneath this on Russia/Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific, the Western Balkans and Hybrid threats. We are exploring with the EEAS how we progress this work.

This follows the Prime Minister’s meeting with Commission President von der Leyen on 2 October where the leaders agreed on the importance of the unique relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom and resolved to strengthen ambitiously our structured strategic cooperation on shared global challenges.

The UK enjoys a high level of product safety. The updated GPSR therefore largely formalises the reality of how businesses are already operating across the UK, and many UK businesses will already be going further than many of these requirements.

The updated GPSR largely formalises the reality of how many businesses are already operating and the measures are therefore likely to have limited impact in practice. However, we understand that for some businesses, the regulation has required changes, and we take any concerns extremely seriously.

The department has issued guidance for businesses selling to Northern Ireland, which we will keep under review. DBT will continue to engage businesses directly to ensure they are familiar with the guidance and that the Government is supporting them to trade freely across the whole of the UK.

With respect to the EU market, British businesses may wish to contact the Government's Export Support service and the European Commission has also published guidance for businesses.

The Green Finance Institute was launched in 2019 to accelerate the transition to a sustainable economy. They are an independent private company that partner with financial organisations, corporates, NGOs, policymakers, academics and civil society experts. Their output supports several Government priorities across climate change, nature, international development, and economic growth.

Government has provided the following funding to the Green Finance Institute for a range of specific outputs to support Government policy making. Between 2019-2022 the Government provided a grant to support the establishment of the Green Finance Institute.

FY 2019-2020: £650,000

FY 2020-2021: £650,000

FY 2021-2022: £890,000 of which £650,000 was the core grant, and £240,000 was for specific projects

Since 2022 the Government has provided a grant to support specific projects through the Green Finance Institute.

FY 2022-2023: £1,565,500

FY 2023-2024: £1,460,467

TOTAL FY 2019-2024: £5,215,967

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs provide funding directly to a separate entity, called the GFI PMO Ltd, which was set up to host the Secretariat for the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures. To date, this funding amounts to:

FY 2021-22: £801,855

FY 2022-23: £1,155,000

FY 2023-24: £910,000

No directors of the Green Finance Institute Ltd (previously known as the Green Finance Initiative Ltd) or the GFI PMO have been appointed by the Government.

The Government has been clear that a veterinary / sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement could boost trade and deliver significant benefits on both sides. It is also clear that we will not be re-entering the single market or customs union and will not return to freedom of movement. The terms of any SPS agreement with the EU are subject to negotiation.

The Government is not currently negotiating draft text relating to an SPS agreement with the EU.

The Government is committed to resetting relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union. As part of this reset, we believe the trading relationship can be improved. The UK and the EU are each other's largest agri-food markets; in 2023, 57% (£14 billion) of UK agri-food exports were to EU countries, and 72% (£43.8 billion) of UK agri-food imports were from EU countries. We have said we will seek to negotiate a veterinary/ sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement to boost trade and deliver benefits to businesses and consumers on both sides.

The figures relating to new trade barriers due to the UK leaving the EU are quoted from the “Big Brexit” report, produced by the Resolution Foundation thinktank.