Published on
The UK’s secretary of state for business and trade has told Euronews he is hoping that British holidaymakers will be able to use e-gates in Europe ‘as soon as possible’ following the agreement struck with the EU in May.
The European Union and the UK announced an agreement on 19 May to strengthen cooperation, the first such deal reached since the UK left the bloc in 2020.
Jonathan Reynolds, the UK , delivers a keynote address during the Brussels Economic Security Forum on Thursday.
As well as outlining new arrangements linked to travel, defence and fishing, the “reset” focuses on farming, an industry heavily impacted by Brexit.
Under the terms of the new deal, British animal and plant products are expected to face fewer checks when exported to the EU. For example, the UK could once again be allowed to export raw sausages and burgers to the EU for the first time since Brexit — thanks to the proposed SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) agreement.
However, the implementation details are still pending.
Under the new deal, British travellers will be able to take advantage of the faster e-gate passport checks at many EU airports, but full details have yet been released on when this will be introduced.
“We hope it is as soon as possible because part of the agreement is the Commission saying there’s no legal impediment to the use of e-gates,” Reynolds told Euronews.
Reynolds said that the e-gates carried “huge efficiency advantages”, adding: “I want people who are going on their summer holiday from the UK to have the ease and use of that.”
Reynolds said his focus now is on implementing the May agreement, and dismissed opposition arguments against the agreement from the UK’s Conservative and Reform parties.
“I think there is a coalition [in the UK] we can build that doesn’t want to look to the past,” he said, saying such a coalition recognised the relationship as valuable in terms of trade, rather than revolving around issues of EU membership and constitutional issues.
“Let’s not forget on fishing, there is no less access, no diminishing of the UK position from what is already the case and actually what is already the case is better than it had been in some previous years,” Reynolds said.
There will “always be people who want to not move on. That’s politics. And my political opponents in the UK have stated that”, Reynolds said, but he said he was confident that such arguments would not prevail in a future election.
Read the full article here
