London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 21, 2025

EU diplomats see ‘London talking to London’ as Westminster debates Swiss-style pact with Brussels

EU diplomats see ‘London talking to London’ as Westminster debates Swiss-style pact with Brussels

While Sunak’s government tries to hose down report it’s after closer ties, the EU has yet to be presented with anything concrete.
British politics might be abuzz with talk of a "Swiss-style" relationship with the European Union — but the mood on the Continent is one of polite bemusement.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was this week forced to push back at a report in the Sunday Times that "senior government figures" in his fledgling administration are interested in a deal with the EU akin to Switzerland’s complex relationship with the bloc. One EU diplomat said the whole row felt like "London talking to London."

The private thinking in some of Westminster's corridors of power, the paper reported, was that the U.K. should pursue frictionless trade by “moving towards a Swiss-style relationship over the next decade.”

Switzerland is outside the EU and the European Economic Area, but it enjoys strong trade ties with the bloc, and has selective access to its single market as well as participation in the Schengen visa-free travel area and EU research and education schemes. In turn, Switzerland accepts closer alignment with EU laws.

Pressed on the report Monday, Sunak told a gathering of business leaders in Birmingham: “On trade, let me be unequivocal about this. Under my leadership the United Kingdom will not pursue any relationship with Europe that relies on alignment with EU laws."

He added: "Now I voted for Brexit, I believe in Brexit, and I know that Brexit can deliver – and is already delivering – enormous benefits and opportunities for the country."

But the comments came just days after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who backed staying in the EU in 2016, pledged to remove the “vast majority of trade barriers” with the EU to boost growth.

Conservative Brexiteers have already reacted with anger to the two suggestions, and the European Research Group — a pro-Brexit group of Tory MPs who were the thorn in the side of Theresa May at the height of the U.K.'s Brexit battles — is being closely watched for cries of betrayal.

Stewart Jackson, a former MP and government Brexit adviser who now runs a public affairs consultancy, said the new government had enough on its plate without “going to war with the ERG” which he reckons still have “more than enough sympathetic supporters” to “cause real trouble" for Sunak.

Yet while Sunak's government tries to hose down the report, the EU has yet to be presented with anything concrete.

“There’s nothing to comment on because there’s no proposal,” one EU diplomat said, adding that the EU would, of course, be very happy to review one. “I’m not trying to be flippant, but what would the proposal be?”

The EU, the diplomat said, wouldn’t react until London actually put something forward. “It comes back to a little bit that’s been ongoing for a long time: it seems to be London talking to London and London trying to figure out what London can accept,” he said. “I’m getting bored of giving the same answer.”

European Commission spokesperson Daniel Ferrie struck a similar tone, telling media in Brussels Monday that “that any relationship between the European Union and a third country is based on the balance of rights and obligations” — in this case governed by the existing Brexit divorce deals.

Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič had, Ferrie noted, already suggested Swiss-style agreements on sanitary and phytosanitary rules as a way to reduce trade friction. Those would, he said, “involve alignment with EU rules — EU SPS rules — and therefore, as a result, reduced checks and controls are the majority of SPs checks and controls.”

In Birmingham, England, where Sunak gave his speech, one business leader also gave short shrift to talk of more deal-making, even while backing the idea that a country expected to enter a "prolonged recession" needs to be "looking around the world for trade and export growth opportunities."

"Rather than speculating around a deal that actually isn't on the table — and the government confirmed that isn't the case — what we should be focused on is finishing the deal that's on the table that the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson negotiated," said Matthew Fell, policy chief for the Confederation of British Industry.

"Get the Northern Ireland protocol sorted," he added, referring to the long-running row over trade rules for Northern Ireland that has proved a drag on U.K. and EU ties. "That can unjam stronger collaboration on innovation, mutual recognition of skills, and so on. Let's get focused on implementing the deal that we do have, rather than speculating about a deal that we don't have."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
×