Keir Starmer\u2019s attempt to reset relations with the EU have suffered a major blow, after negotiations for the UK to join the EU\u2019s flagship \u20ac150bn (\u00a3131bn) defence fund collapsed.<\/p>\n
The UK had been pushing to join the EU\u2019s Security Action for Europe (Safe) fund, a low-interest loan scheme that is part of the EU\u2019s drive to boost defence spending by \u20ac800bn<\/a> and rearm the continent, in response to the growing threat from Russia and cooling relations between Donald Trump\u2019s US and the EU.<\/p>\n Entrance to the scheme would have enabled the British government to secure a bigger role for its defence firms. In September, France proposed a ceiling<\/a> on the value of UK-produced military components in the fund.<\/p>\n The UK and EU had been expected to sign a technical agreement on Safe after establishing an administrative fee from London. But after months of wrangling, and only days before the 30 November deadline for an agreement, sources said the two sides remained \u201cfar apart\u201d on the financial contribution Britain would make, Bloomberg reported.<\/p>\n EU officials have suggested an entry fee of up to \u20ac6bn, far higher than the administrative fee the government had envisaged paying. Peter Ricketts, the veteran former diplomat who chairs the European affairs committee in the House of Lords, described a rumoured \u20ac6.5bn fee as \u201cso off the scale that it suggests some EU members don\u2019t want the UK in the scheme\u201d.<\/p>\n The minister for EU relations, Nick Thomas-Symonds, said it was \u201cdisappointing\u201d that talks had fallen through but insisted that the UK defence industry would still be able to participate in projects through Safe on third-country terms.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile it is disappointing that we have not been able to conclude discussions on UK participation in the first round of Safe, the UK defence industry will still be able to participate in projects through Safe on third-country terms.<\/p>\n \u201cNegotiations were carried out in good faith, but our position was always clear: we will only sign agreements that are in the national interest and provide value for money.\u201d<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Headlines Europe<\/p>\n A digest of the morning’s main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n