Tánaiste welcomes EU-UK Summit outcome
- Published on: 19 May 2025
- Last updated on: 19 May 2025
The Tánaiste Simon Harris TD has warmly welcomed the outcome of the first EU-UK Summit in London today, in which the EU and UK reached agreement on a strategic partnership and a forward-looking agenda for cooperation targeted at improving opportunities for their citizens.
"Today’s Summit marks the beginning of an ambitious and productive new phase of EU-UK cooperation that is clearly to the benefit of people and businesses across our continent and across the island of Ireland. I want to warmly welcome this new strategic partnership and underline Ireland’s support for it.
“Both sides have made clear their commitment to enhancing the EU-UK relationship across multiple policy areas, delivering real benefits for people in the UK and the EU alike.
“This balanced programme of cooperation includes mutual commitments on people-to-people exchange, linkage of Emissions Trading Systems (ETSs), certainty on fisheries arrangements and exploring opportunities in electricity-trading; a commitment to addressing shared challenges; and a Security and Defence Partnership outlining areas for EU-UK cooperation on security and defence policy. Delivering on these goals will bring benefits to Irish people and businesses; reducing the administrative burden on agri-food businesses exporting to the UK, giving certainty to Ireland’s fishermen and women so they can make sustainable, long-term decisions for their businesses and supporting our shared energy security and climate goals by working more closely with our nearest neighbours.
“Today is also a good day for Northern Ireland. It was very important that the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland be taken into account, and that has been done. A broad-based SPS agreement would bring significant benefits for Northern Ireland business and consumers, and for the efficient operation of the Windsor Framework.
“This is an ambitious and far-sighted programme of work. It signals our determination to tackle common challenges and to improve the lives of citizens in both the EU and UK. I would like to congratulate the European Commission and the United Kingdom on their work preparing the Summit. We are committed to working together to deliver on its ambitions.”
The Tánaiste will chair the fifth meeting of the Government Trade Forum this afternoon which will consider the outcome of the EU-UK Summit.
Participants at the Forum will include Ministers and senior officials from relevant Government departments, senior leaders of Irish business and other representative groups and state agencies. The Tánaiste will update the Forum on trade policy developments, including at the EU-US level, and on his meetings with European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and EU Trade Ministers in Brussels last week. The meeting will also include discussion with Forum members about the publication by the European Commission on 8 May of the new list of potential countermeasures in response to recent US tariff decisions.