🔗 Share this article What's Motivating the Prime Minister's Marked Shift on Closer Links to the EU? Image Source The Premier's remarkably clear tilt on the United Kingdom's following Brexit ties to the bloc this weekend was intended to send a message to business, to EU officials, and to European partners, alongside his own backbenchers. A New Process for Dialogue Closer after-Brexit economic relations are projected to be looked at as within an annual process of direct negotiations as opposed to solely at the ongoing formal review of the trade and cooperation agreement. This represented the clear response to political questions regarding a broader Brexit reset that suggested re-entering the customs union. Internal Momentum Some parliamentarians, trade union officials and senior ministers have added their voices to ideas formalised by parliamentary moves last year that resulted in a non-binding vote. "We are better looking to the single market instead of the customs union for our further alignment," Sir Keir Starmer said. He provided a definitive response that rejoining the tariff union was not the current focus, as it conflicts with what he views as one of the successes of the previous year: the securing of comprehensive trade pacts with the US and the Indian subcontinent, with more expected in the Gulf region. Focusing On the Single Market Instead of the customs union, his emphasis is on building a "closer relationship" with the internal market, which would preclude tearing up those international pacts elsewhere. When the UK completed its departure from the EU in early 2021, the agreement at the time prioritised independence from EU rules over frictionless trade for British firms in EU nations. The present recalibration outlines harmonising with EU regulations in specific fields to help the free flow of trade: agri-food goods, power, and carbon trading. Industry Requests A prominent industry organisation last month issued a detailed set of additional asks in different fields to help exporters navigate new bureaucratic hurdles that has hampered the goods trade. Its internal research found that a large proportion of business members felt that the existing agreement was failing to support business expansion. A host of further domains could, feasibly, see a parallel method – harmonisation with single market rules – in exchange for lowering post-Brexit barriers across manufacturing, in automotive, chemicals, or for example in VAT procedures. Continental Response European capitals were disappointed by the modest aims in the previous recalibration, particularly the British rejection of suggestions advanced by some experts regarding the effective return of UK products to the single market. The exact terms on electricity and agri-food rules is still to be agreed. A proposal for UK manufacturers to be part of a major defence loan fund has hit a snag over the cost of the contribution, after opposition from Paris. a non-EU country has joined the initiative. Broader Landscape The UK has reached an agreement to return to a student mobility programme and to discuss a young workers initiative. This has paved the way for ongoing dialogue. Observers note that the release last month of a key US strategy document has also changed the context on UK European policy. The strategy stated that the US would "encourage pushback" to Europe's current trajectory and commended the "increasing clout" of nationalist groups. Within the administration, there is a growing awareness that the international situation has shifted once more. Political Calculations On the national stage, the governing party also foresees being outflanked on EU relations not only one opposition party, but potentially a further party, which is campaigning in its key electoral areas in local votes. The Premier's latest comments are the product of a confluence of business needs, politics and international relations as the UK embarks upon a year that will mark the ten-year mark of the decision to leave the European Union.