Andy Burnham is preparing to announce billions of pounds of trade deals with the EU covering everything from youth visas to pet passports under his vision of a much closer relationship with the bloc.
With the prime minister scheduled to meet his European counterparts in Brussels on 20 November, officials have all but agreed three deals that would allow farmers to sell freely to the continent and travellers to take their animals abroad more easily.
Although parts of the agreement will not be put in place until 2028, those close to the talks insist the process will not be derailed by disagreements on European industrial policy or UK university fees.
Elements of the deal, which will see the UK pay the EU for access to its emissions trading scheme, face criticism from those who argue Britain is signing up to the same rules it was seeking to avoid when it left the bloc.
However, Burnham said on Tuesday that the agreement would boost the UK economy by £17bn – an increase of 0.4%. His advisers believe it will also strengthen his attempts to forge much closer ties with, and even potentially rejoin, the bloc.
The prime minister told the Economist on Tuesday: “A deal could add up to 0.4% to GDP. Now that is a number that you cannot ignore.”
And he told ITV: “Public opinion has changed nationally. But I want to be really clear on this issue. I will not run ahead of public opinion. The public need to be the boss when it comes to whatever happens with Brexit.”
Burnham will meet Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and António Costa, the president of the European Council, in Brussels later this month when the leaders are expected to announce the deals.
They include an agricultural agreement, which the government believes will be worth over £5bn to the UK economy by 2040; access to the EU’s emissions trading scheme; and a youth visa scheme for tens of thousands of people under 30.
Officials on both sides say the final text for all three deals is close to being agreed, though some key details need to be finalised. These include how many young people should be allowed to travel under the mobility scheme.
Both sides are understood to have agreed that each European member state should get its own quota under the scheme, to spread out the benefits and potential costs.
Under the proposed agricultural deal, UK companies and travellers would no longer have to get a certificate to transport live animals, including pets, into Europe. Those wanting to bring domesticated animals into the bloc would be issued with a pet passport, eradicating the need for complicated paperwork each trip.
UK producers would be allowed to continue selling some products that are banned under EU law, such as certain pesticides, for a “transition period”. Trade in other products, including live molluscs and Scottish salmon, would be freed up.
Under a separate agreement on emissions, the UK would pay the EU billions of pounds to avoid being trapped by a cross-border carbon tax, which comes into place in January.
And under the “youth experience scheme”, Britain and the EU would issue visas to people under the age of 30 to live, work and travel in each other’s territories. The UK is negotiating an emergency brake-style mechanism to make sure that if a member state refuses to issue its quota of visas, the UK will restrict the number of their nationals looking to travel to Britain.
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Officials on both sides have now started talks over a separate joint statement setting out areas of future cooperation, including on industrial policy and tuition fees. A draft of that agreement seen by the Guardian would seek to conclude an agreement on charging European students lower fees within six months.
The Guardian revealed earlier this week that the UK was willing to spend hundreds of millions of pounds compensating universities for any financial loss as a result – but only if the EU agreed to grant Britain access to its protectionist Made in Europe scheme.
The draft statement, which has been prepared by the EU and not yet agreed by the UK, describes the two sides as “trusted partners” – language which the UK believes will allow it to participate in Made in Europe.
But European countries are pushing Britain to sign up to higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, a move UK ministers and businesses are resisting. The European draft text says both sides will “cooperate closely and explore further solutions”.
It also says the UK is likely to pay a financial contribution to the EU’s “cohesion” budget to help poorer member states – though this has not been signed off by the UK and is understood to be more likely as part of a future agreement.
The EU has also raised concerns about the UK’s plans for an accelerated programme to deport “foreign national offenders from the UK to the EU”, which it is pushing London to drop.
The agreement being announced later this month forms one half of Burnham’s attempts to reset the British conversation over Europe.
The prime minister is also planning a major announcement setting out his vision for how the UK could interact with the union in the future, including possible re-entry.
Downing Street has said this would take place “around the time of the summit” – though it has not yet been decided whether it will be before, during or after.
