Industry chiefs urge UK-EU leaders to deliver defence and security pact

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Britain’s defence and tech industries have urged EU and UK leaders to step up efforts to clinch a new security pact with Brussels next month amid concerns that the talks risk getting bogged down in “horse-trading”.

The heads of the main aerospace, tech and industry lobby groups wrote to UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen asking them to “act quickly” to sign a deal at the UK-EU summit on May 19.

“The signing of a UK-EU defence and security partnership agreement that fosters closer industrial co-operation must be a central deliverable” of the summit, they wrote in a letter seen by the Financial Times. 

The trade groups — British Chambers of Commerce, aerospace trade association ADS, and tech lobby group TechUK — are concerned talks may be held up by unrelated issues, such as an ongoing stand-off over fishing rights.

A senior UK official put the chances of a deal over the defence pact at the summit at “about 50-50”.

The official warned there remained a risk that EU-UK differences over fishing rights and the handling of a youth mobility deal could prevent a deal despite the deteriorating geopolitical situation. 

Peter Bell, vice-president of the British Chambers of Commerce EU, said that it was essential the security pact was delivered at the summit, and included “robust industrial dimensions”. “Negotiations cannot be protracted by horse-trading on less critical issues,” he added.

EU states, led by France, have dug in on demands to secure a fresh deal on fishing rights in UK coastal waters as the price of a security pact. The UK is also locked in a legal dispute over a decision to close the Dogger Bank to sand eel fishermen.

The UK is also in negotiations with Spain over the sovereignty of Gibraltar, which led to hold-ups in previous EU-UK negotiations during the first round of Brexit negotiations. 

The envisaged security pact is a legally nonbinding agreement of the kind the EU has with six other countries, including South Korea, Japan and Albania.

But it would open the door to participation in EU defence procurement funds, including a proposed fund of up to €150bn in cheap loans from which the UK is currently blocked.

The letter argued a pact was essential given the existing integration of EU and UK defence industries, citing companies such as Airbus, BAE Systems, Leonardo, Saab, MBDA, Rolls-Royce, Safran and Thales having operations on both sides of the Channel.

ADS chief executive Kevin Craven said the lack of a formal road map for deeper EU-UK co-operation was “creating barriers” for UK industry.

“The longer this process takes, the less likely we are to be able to respond to emerging security threats — despite having the capability, the political will and the moral duty to do so,” he said.

He added the summit was the “ideal time to formalise our defence and security relationship for generations to come”.

Tan Dhesi, Labour chair of the Commons defence committee, echoed their concerns about delays to a reset of UK-EU relations on defence, telling Starmer on Tuesday that now was “not the time for European nations to be prioritising fisheries over defence”.

Appearing before Parliament’s liaison committee, Starmer reiterated his position that the UK and EU could forge a “much better relationship” on defence, security, energy and trade, but insisted that “issues such as fisheries . . . are important to any discussions”. 

He said the Brexit fishing agreement that expires in June 2026 necessitated periodical reviews and declined to engage in “megaphone diplomacy” about the status of talks.

Starmer welcomed the EU’s creation of a fund of up to €150bn in cheap loans for rearmament, and said: “I want to work with the EU on it. It is very important that our defence companies are involved.”

The Cabinet Office said the UK stood ready to negotiate a security and defence partnership agreement with the EU. “The summit will cover a range of UK-EU issues as we look to foster a stable, positive and forward-looking relationship,” it added.

The European Commission declined to comment.