By DAVID WILCOCK, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 10:14 BST, 18 September 2025 | Updated: 10:14 BST, 18 September 2025
EU leaders have warned it will not ease entry into the bloc for UK food exports unless Britain agrees to a youth mobility deal allowing thousands of young workers to cross the channel.Under a temporary agreement which came into force in June, sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) checks on fruit and vegetables going both ways have been lifted.But the move, designed to speed up movement and help alleviate prices in UK, is only in place for 18 months while a permanent agreement is reached in 2027.Talks are due to begin within months, Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said recently, but Brussels is linking a permanent arrangement to its desire for a youth mobility scheme.This would allow tens of thousands of under-30s to travel and work in Britain, on the same lines as deals already in place with countries including Canada and Australia, with reciprocal rights for Brits on the continent.It comes after new figures this week showed UK food and drink inflation rose to 5.1 per cent last month, from 4.9 per cent in July, marking the fifth month in a row that the rate has accelerated.A European diplomat told the Times: 'Doing an SPS deal is more urgent for the Brits than it is for us.'It is not our big priority in the negotiation and if the UK wants that agreement by 2027 there will have to be movement and a deal on youth mobility. Numbers and the limit on numbers will be at the centre of that negotiation.' Talks are due to begin within months, Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds (pictured in Brussels this week) said recently, but the EU is linking a permanent arrangement to its desire for a youth mobility scheme.
