Recommendation 39

Most Members of the Committee broadly welcome the outcome of the Lancaster House summit as a starting point for improved relations with the EU. It has substantially improved the overall political relationship and inserted positive momentum. However, the Government failed to clearly identify its strategic priorities for the summit and, overall, it appears the EU achieved more concrete progress towards their most pressing demands—in particular with respect to fish—than the UK did. Most of the Government’s known objectives for the “reset” still require substantial further negotiations and the timeline for their implementation remains uncertain. The lack of a strategic approach to the summit is also clear from the narrow EU commitment on steel tariffs, which was revealed to be inadequate within six months of the summit. (Conclusion, Paragraph 109)