Joe Meighan shares why the UK must now double down on rebuilding cooperation with Europe.
The breakdown in talks over the UK’s participation in the EU’s €150bn SAFE defence
loans scheme is a sobering reminder of both the fragility and the necessity of rebuilding a cooperative relationship between Britain and our closest neighbours. Both sides say the door is not closed to an agreement. They should get back round the table as soon as possible and this time show enough flexibility to reach a compromise.
The disagreement over the UK’s financial contribution is not insignificant. Taxpayers expect value for money, and the UK government was correct to scrutinise the terms closely. But security in Europe is not a transactional commodity, measured only by cash in and cash out. In an era when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reshaped Europe’s strategic landscape, the cost of exclusion may ultimately far exceed the cost of participation.
The SAFE programme will facilitate joint procurement of weapons, ammunition and other essential capabilities, areas where UK industry has deep expertise and a longhistory of collaboration with European partners. Without an agreement, there will be a 35% cap on the value of UK-supplied components to any SAFE-funded project. That will not only hold back the UK defence industry but could also limit crucial interoperability and efficiencies that joint defence initiatives require.
The collapse of talks also carries worrying political symbolism. We have stumbled at the first fence of the reset programme sketched out at the UK-EU Summit in May this year! This setback should serve as a moment of strategic clarity. Re-embedding the UK in the European community requires sustained goodwill, realism, and political courage all round. A reset cannot be just rhetorical: it must be delivered through concrete, timely agreements that rebuild trust.
This makes the next phase of UK-EU negotiations critical. We need rapid progress on all of the main areas covered by the reset.
Rejoining Erasmus+ and coming to a wider agreement on youth mobility would restore life-changing opportunities for hundreds of thousands of young people . It would signal that Britain once again sees youth exchange not as a cost but as an investment: in skills, in culture, and in the future of European cooperation.
Meanwhile, an sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement would reduce red tape on food and agricultural trade , cutting costs for consumers and businesses . A more aligned approach to standards would restore predictability for traders after years of uncertainty.
On climate policy, a joint emissions trading system and coordinated approach to CBAM would allow the UK and EU to present a united front in the global transition to net zero and allow the UK more seamless access to EU markets.
Finally, renewed electricity trading arrangements could support energy security and cut bills by ensuring efficient flows of power across interconnectors.
The lesson from the SAFE negotiations is not that cooperation is impossible, but that it must be pursued with persistence and strategic vision.It is not too late for an agreement on SAFE. And further deals that turn the reset from a concept into real growth, jobs and opportunities cannot come early enough.