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Derrick Wyatt

January 30th, 2025

Should Starmer start talking about an EU single market agreement?

0 comments | 10 shares

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Derrick Wyatt

January 30th, 2025

Should Starmer start talking about an EU single market agreement?

0 comments | 10 shares

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Starmer’s aim to reset relations with the EU seem to have stalled. Five years after Brexit took place, with a UK economy struggling to grow and the country’s sentiment about the EU changed, a review of UK – EU trade links is timely. Derrick Wyatt argues that outlining a future single market agreement between the UK and the EU doesn’t breach Starmer’s red lines, nor is it undemocratic. 


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Brits tell pollsters they are against high immigration – but they also favour a youth mobility deal with the EU and want to join the EU single market even if it means accepting the free movement of persons.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s recently elected Labour Government is unpopular and the UK economy is flatlining. Could joining the EU single market be Labour’s new signature policy? Maybe, but it’s not straightforward.

Keir Starmer insists former Tory PM Boris Johnson “botched” the existing trade deal and that he could do better. But Starmer has ruled out joining the EU, customs union or single market, and rejects the free movement of persons.

The EU/UK post-Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement provides for review of its trade provisions in 2025. The EU and the UK are limbering up for negotiations.

Keir Starmer insists former Tory PM Boris Johnson “botched” the existing trade deal and that he could do better. But Starmer has ruled out joining the EU, customs union or single market, and rejects the free movement of persons.

After a string of arguably political own goals Starmer’s Government has seen its popularity nose-dive. Even insiders fear that Labour may be destined to be a one-term Government.

In the run-up to the general election Labour painted itself into a corner over the taxes they would raise to put the public finances in order. The promised reset with the EU looks like going the same way, because Starmer has ruled out the closer links with the EU which most Brits and the EU seem to want.

A food standards deal would have strings attached

Starmer wants a UK/EU deal on food standards, to reverse the decline in UK food exports to the EU that has followed Brexit. But the EU will only accept that if the UK aligns with EU rules and accepts the oversight of EU judges. Other must-haves on the Brussels side are a youth mobility scheme and maintaining current levels of EU access to UK fishing grounds.

Polling suggests that 59 per cent of Brits favour the EU’s proposal on youth mobility, despite 68 per cent thinking that immigration is too high.

Starmer has not ruled out a role for the EU Courts in a food standards deal, but he has so far rejected a youth mobility scheme because it would cross his red line on free movement. Polling suggests that 59 per cent of Brits favour the EU’s proposal on youth mobility, despite 68 per cent thinking that immigration is too high.

Accepting EU demands on fishing could be tricky for Starmer. Any concessions on fish would be bad political news at home but concessions on Scottish fish would be particularly bad, with recent polling on Scottish independence showing those in favour three points ahead at 50 per cent.

Starmer has no current electoral mandate to take the UK into the single market or say yes to freedom of movement. But that need not rule out UK and EU trade negotiators exploring an outline single market agreement for the longer term.

Starmer’s red lines on European links could fade

Adding preliminary talks on a UK/EU single market deal to the UK/EU reset negotiations on food standards, youth mobility etc., would match what pollsters tell us most Brits want to hear and hearten the British business community. It could also give a political reboot to the reset negotiations.

Starmer has no current electoral mandate to take the UK into the single market or say yes to freedom of movement. But that need not rule out UK and EU trade negotiators exploring an outline single market agreement (SMA) for the longer term while they hammer out a food standards agreement for the near term.

Talks on an SMA could clash with talks on a US trade agreement (chlorinated chicken etc) – but so could the deal on food standards Starmer is keen to strike.

UK/EU SMA talks would also rub Trump up the wrong way temperamentally – he is no fan of the EU. That argues for the EU and the UK proceeding with caution because they both want to dodge the tariffs Trump is threatening to impose on friend and foe alike.

The democratic objection to a Single Market Agreement

An SMA would require the UK to apply new EU single market laws without having a say in their content. Starmer is on record as saying “…we will not be a rule-taker. The rules and laws of this country will be made in parliament according to the national interest.” I have previously argued that Starmer is right on this.

Even those intending to vote for Reform UK, Nigel Farage’s populist party aiming to replace the Conservatives, split 44/45 per cent when asked if they would accept the free movement of persons if the UK could regain special access to the European market.

EU single market laws cannot be dismissed as technical trade rules nobody cares about – some regulate subject matters of political and economic importance, such as take-overs and mergers, financial services, and the rights of patients to receive health care in other EU countries if their own health services can’t cope. If, e.g., EU rules on financial services applied to the UK they might affect London’s competitiveness as a financial centre.

Most Brits accept the trade-off between economic advantage and democratic control

Polls show absolute majorities for the UK joining the single market, accepting that that involves the free movement of people.

The democratic deficit of an SMA might be overcome if all EU rules applied in the UK had been approved by the UK Parliament, and if Parliament could trigger a speedy exit from the SMA if the EU adopted laws the UK could not possibly accept.

Even those intending to vote for Reform UK, Nigel Farage’s populist party aiming to replace the Conservatives, split 44/45 per cent when asked if they would accept the free movement of persons if the UK could regain special access to the European market.

What if Parliament could block new rules and trigger a speedy exit?

The democratic deficit of an SMA might be overcome if all EU rules applied in the UK had been approved by the UK Parliament, and if Parliament could trigger a speedy exit from the SMA if the EU adopted laws the UK could not possibly accept.

The SMA, including those EU laws to be applied by the UK, would enter into force under an Act of Parliament, and replace most of the current UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

The UK Parliament would periodically consider new single market rules, and vote on them as a package. If Parliament accepted the package, the new EU rules would be applied in the UK. If Parliament rejected the package, the SMA would terminate in one year and the provisions of the TCA displaced by it would revive.

The UK and the EU could terminate anyway if they gave one year’s notice – that is the position in the EU/EFTA Agreement under which Norway et al. participate in the EU single market.

Terms of withdrawal, such as residence rights of migrants, and payment of outstanding financial contributions, could be agreed in advance and set out in the SMA.

In practice the UK would be unlikely to terminate the SMA because of objections to a specific piece of EU legislation, because of the damage it would do to UK trade with the EU.

The UK could still make its own trade agreements

A single market agreement would not include a customs union, so there would still be customs checks and paperwork on UK/EU trade, though the UK accepting single market rules could simplify some of these, as Starmer’ s quest for a food standards agreement demonstrates.

The combination of single market membership and an independent trade policy might be the right mix for the UK.

The UK could keep its existing trade agreements with countries around the world (such as those with Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand), and continue to make new ones, providing it maintained single market standards for all sales in the UK. The combination of single market membership and an independent trade policy might be the right mix for the UK.

This mix would seem to offer advantages over the UK entering into a new customs union with the EU, which has recently been proposed by the Liberal Democrats. If the UK entered into such a union, its trade in goods with the EU would be facilitated, but it would be unable to negotiate its own trade agreements with countries outside the EU. The UK would also be bound to grant tariff-free access to imports from the EU’s trading partners, without the guarantee of tariff-free access for its own exports to those countries. An outline SMA agreed or in the process of being agreed by UK/EU trade negotiators would have no legal effects in this Parliament, so none of Starmer’s red lines would be crossed. Preparatory talks in this Parliament could be turned into a binding treaty in the next.

There would be risks for Labour in exploring an SMA agreement with the EU. There are also risks in simply accepting that history has dealt Labour a bad hand when it comes to UK/EU trade links.

A referendum would be an option

If the SMA model discussed here were taken forward, no popular vote beyond that involved in the next general election would be needed, though it would be an option.

A referendum to approve an SMA could undermine the “speedy exit” model, because it would create a political expectation that a referendum would also be needed to confirm withdrawal, though voters and politicians might prefer that.

There would be risks for Labour in exploring an SMA agreement with the EU. There are also risks in simply accepting that history has dealt Labour a bad hand when it comes to UK/EU trade links.


All articles posted on this blog give the views of the author(s), and not the position of LSE British Politics and Policy, nor of the London School of Economics and Political Science.


Image credit: Alexandros Michailidis  in Shutterstock


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About the author

Derrick Wyatt

Derrick Wyatt

Derrick Wyatt, KC is Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Oxford and a former barrister. He argued cases before the EU Courts and advised businesses and governments.

Posted In: Brexit | Economy and Society | Immigration