On the agenda of Coreper II today data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document...

From the EU-UK ‘Common Understanding’ in May: “32. The SPS Agreement should provide for an appropriate financial contribution from the United Kingdom to support the relevant costs associated with the European Union’s work in this policy area.”

Out today, the findings of latest polling of NI voters' views on Brexit, the Windsor Framework and UK-EU relations. While most voters in Northern Ireland are either generally accepting or supportive of the Windsor Framework, overall support has weakened... www.qub.ac.uk/sites/post-b...

House of Lords Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee first report published. "labyrinthine complexity of the institutional architecture of the Windsor Framework makes it impossible for stakeholders to navigate" A detailed report. committees.parliament.uk/committee/76...

Coverage striking for omitting any mention of some EU(27) Foreign Ministers attending and that meeting is part of the Berlin Process designed to 'increase cooperation between the Western Balkans Six and the Berlin Process host countries as well as the EU'. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

NI as testbed for UK to demonstrate it can meet obligations towards the EU. www.ft.com/content/7238...

Interested in what voters in Northern Ireland currently think about Brexit, the Windsor Framework and UK-EU relations? Join @katyhayward.bsky.social and me on Friday 24 October as we present the findings from our latest polling with @lucidtalk.bsky.social www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/post-brexi...

Deadline for submissions extended to 15 October councilforeuropeanstudies.org/conferences/...

Sefcovic: “Based on the trust we have rebuilt over the last years, I’m convinced that we can proceed with the SPS negotiations very quickly. We are now very well advanced in getting the mandate from the member states to do that.” www.irishtimes.com/business/202...

‘Polling commissioned by POLITICO shows the government’s agri-food deal agreed in principle with Brussels is popular with Remainers and Leavers alike — even when they're told it means following EU rules. ‘Nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of voters back the deal…

Joint Statement from today's EU-UK Specialised Committee on the Implementation of the Windsor Framework. Work still to be done on 'full, timely and faithful' implementation. More detail than in past statements Value of stakeholder engagement flagged commission.europa.eu/document/dow...

Latest European Political Community summit in Copenhagen today. 'While the gathering hasn’t lived up to the hype set by Macron, most of those who spoke to POLITICO said it would be wrong to consider it a failure. Dialogue doesn’t hurt anyone, after all.' www.politico.eu/article/macr...

Next meeting of the EU-UK Specialised Committee on the Windsor Framework meets tomorrow, 2 October 2025. Agenda 👇 (same as for previous meeting in June) commission.europa.eu/publications...

‘The plan faces pushback from several EU countries, including France, the Netherlands and Greece, … they would also be limiting their own ability to block membership bids they see as problematic… It’s important to the Greeks…to show they can hold up talks on… www.politico.eu/article/hung...

‘The European Commission has proposed adjusting its own rules to circumvent Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s veto by starting the technical work in several “clusters” even in the absence of a formal decision to open talks in those areas… officials said.’ www.ft.com/content/3642...

‘[The] Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) secured 50% of the vote, with most of the 1.6m votes counted, far ahead of the pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc on under 25%. Turnout was 52%, higher than in recent years.’ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

‘Under Costa’s proposal, so-called negotiating clusters — key legal steps on the path to membership — could be opened with the assent of a qualified majority of EU countries rather than unanimous agreement. Closing a cluster would still require [unanimity]’ www.politico.eu/article/anto...

“EU accession is both Moldova’s opportunity and its vulnerability. For citizens, it represents a way out of Russia’s grip and a path to stability. For Moscow, it is a make-or-break issue. Losing Moldova to Europe would expose weakness in what it considers… carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

"undecided voters and Russian vote-buying could tip the scales on Sunday. If PAS does not get the majority, which looks increasingly likely, experts predict it will be left without reliable coalition partners — and Champagne corks will be popping in the Kremlin" www.politico.eu/article/maia...

As so often the headline misleads It's a question of 'may'. And so much depends on each side's priorties, the trade offs they are willing to make and securing the requisite progress across a complex set of parallel negotiations. inews.co.uk/news/politic...

"The Commission should abandon waiting for Member States’ unanimity at every single step in the negotiation process. This relatively recent practice has no basis in EU law and should be dropped" - Michael Emerson and @stevenblockmans.bsky.social at @ceps.eu www.ceps.eu/ceps-publica...

'A large majority of member states oppose restrictions on UK participation, as they want flexibility over defence procurement. One EU diplomat described the proposed 50% limit as “the classic French obsession”.' www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Latest speech on UK-EU relations from Nick Thomas-Symonds… in Bruges “Sovereignty is not some delicate fossil… …it should be a modern tool which helps us to make pragmatic decisions about the future. All this means some alignment on standards…” www.gov.uk/government/s...

‘Both the Labour party and [the] Conservatives want Norway to join the EU but neither want to call for a new referendum imminently, as opinion polls show most voters reject membership of the bloc’ www.ft.com/content/6c89...

Lord Murphy's Independent Review of the Windsor Framework published today Follows consultations with NI political parties, businesses, trade organisations, trade unions and civil society representatives, and 500 written submissions. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68b59a...

Latest Eurobarometer looks at attitudes towards EU enlargement. Majority support in most member states. Among exceptions: France… where default constitutional position is ratification of future accession treaties will be subject to a referendum europa.eu/eurobaromete...

Latest UK Government report on TCA implementation www.gov.uk/government/p...

‘This week, the Department for Education held a preliminary meeting with prospective suppliers after setting out in a tender notice its intention to pay between £20mn and £24mn for an 18-month contract starting in July 2026.’ on.ft.com/45RFfyV

‘Resetting [relations] with the EU will take time and involve trade-offs. ‘And it’s time for a proper conversation about it…’ ‘in some cases, like SPS, it is in our national interest to align with the EU. We have made that choice because it is pragmatic, and we own it.’ www.gov.uk/government/s...

‘after months of being coy over the prospect of a youth mobility scheme with the EU, Thomas-Symonds embraced the possibility with open arms. ‘“… I’m very excited about the scheme,” he said. “I think it’s going to be fantastic.”’ www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Being sought: applicants with 'a high degree of knowledge and experience of European and [NI] politics, including Brexit, the Windsor Framework, and the political situation in Northern Ireland and the ability to become proficient in new topics quickly' housesofparliament.tal.net/vx/lang-en-G...

“Businesses in the Republic without a presence in the North will now peer enviously across the Border at the lower rate to be applied there. This is the first year since Ireland – both parts – joined the [EEC] in 1973 that such a differential has been in play.” www.irishtimes.com/business/202...

"While recent polls have shown a large majority in favour of holding the referendum, much fewer people support launching fresh accession talks... many people obviously just want the vote to be able to say no. Probably in the hope of finally killing the idea off." euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...

Will it be much of a 'fight'? "The SPS agreement the EU has with Switzerland — seen as a model for the upcoming British accord — also includes its own carve-out on animal welfare." www.politico.eu/article/uk-a...

"The fact remains that most political parties in the Icelandic parliament are against EU membership. "And while polls show that the population is keen to restart talks with Brussels, they are less sure that they actually want to become members." www.rferl.org/a/iceland-eu...

"Future agreements... necessitate a coordinated UK-wide conversation about new legislation... for them to be implemented. The UK-EU IMG provides precisely the kind of forum which could deliver this but at the present time is not being used to its full potential" ukandeu.ac.uk/intergovernm...

"Trying to limit regulatory divergence with your closest trading partner, while increasing soft-touch cooperation in areas of common interest, is what a rational EU policy looks like." - @jreland.bsky.social encompass-europe.com/comment/the-...

““I am always rather struck by how parliamentarians and campaigners will make a real fuss about the negotiation of individual agreements… but rarely look at the underlying framework for the ratification of treaties.” A view shared.

Commission's proposed mandate for negotiations on EU-UK SPS and ETS agreements being presented to EU(27) today. Also on agenda: information from the Commission on UK participation in Erasmus. data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document...

‘London wants detailed negotiations on a planned agri-food agreement to begin in the fall and conclude in the first part of 2026… EU: “We want to implement the agreement as swiftly as possible on both sides." www.politico.eu/article/brit...

“The imperative for the UK to demonstrate post-Brexit divergence from the EU appears all but gone… More often than not, the EU now appears to be a regulatory lodestar which guides UK policy thinking, rather than a competitor to outmanoeuvre.” ukandeu.ac.uk/reports/uk-e...

“According to a poll earlier this year, 58 percent of Icelanders support reopening accession talks — but support is lower for EU membership, with just 45 percent in favor, 35 percent opposed and 20 percent undecided.” www.politico.eu/article/icel...

"Supporters of Moldova’s membership are increasingly concerned that Hungary’s block on Ukraine’s accession, and the informal linking of the two countries’ bids, could unfairly hinder Chișinău." www.ft.com/content/000b...

'Earlier this week, the Commission’s enlargement spokesperson, Guillaume Mercier, said Brussels would not entertain the question of “decoupling” Moldova and Ukraine’s bids to allow the former to progress. “This is really a decision to be taken by the member states".' www.politico.eu/article/mold...

“EU officials familiar with the discussion said the Commission had decided that the UK joining PEM was not currently in the EU’s interests, because it would increase the risk of products unfairly qualifying for low-tariff access to the bloc.” www.ft.com/content/0cb5...

‘The treaty between Starmer and Merz is the fruit of 18 rounds of negotiations, three of which were held face to face in Berlin and two in London. ‘A spokesperson for the German Foreign Office said: “The treaty will deal with the entire range of our relations”.’ www.politico.eu/article/uk-g...

Nine years after the EU referendum, where does public opinion stand on Brexit? NB results are for GB... yougov.co.uk/politics/art...

New research briefing from HoC Library researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CB...

Dynamic regulatory alignment will be a core feature of a future EU-UK SPS agreement. In it there will be a 'short list of limited exceptions'. Important dimension to UK-EU negotiations will be determining what's on the list. www.euractiv.com/section/agri...

“The problem isn’t that there isn’t more that could be done. It’s that most of the gains to be had are safely locked up behind the UK’s red lines.” - @anandmenon.bsky.social and @jdportes.bsky.social ukandeu.ac.uk/the-economic...