“We welcome the willingness to reset relations”, said Judith Kirton-Darling, General Secretary of industriAll Europe. “The EU–UK relationship must be rebuilt with industrial cooperation and employment rights at its core. If this new phase is to succeed, it must deliver on good quality jobs, standards, and Just Transition.” 

The recent progress found today in London on defence and security cooperation, extended fishing access, and initial steps towards agreements on climate, energy, migration, and mobility, is a welcome sign of development in the post-Brexit relationship. But the test of a successful reset will be whether it delivers secure, quality jobs, raises living standards, and strengthens workers' rights across Europe.

IndustriAll Europe highlights the importance of deeper alignment and cooperation in climate, energy, and climate/sustainability policies. Strengthening the cooperation on energy supply security is essential, with particular emphasis on expanding offshore wind capacity. Diverging standards and duplicate regulatory systems since the UK’s departure from chemical rules like REACH (the EU’s chemical safety regulation) have threatened both safety and competitiveness. We urgently call for better regulatory alignment between the EU and UK in chemicals, based on high standards of health, safety, and environmental protection. 

We emphasise the importance of placing working people at the heart of this restored relationship. This means:

  • Creating good, quality jobs through high labour and social standards across borders, including through upwards convergence in employment rights
  • Ensuring fair and equal treatment for workers on both sides
  • Supporting youth and skills development through the creation of a joint UK–EU youth mobility programme, which must be shaped with the full involvement of trade unions to ensure both fairness and effectiveness
  • Using collective agreements, particularly at the sectoral level, to prevent social dumping and protect against undercutting in wages and conditions—addressing concerns around labour mobility and migration
  • Reducing barriers to trade and aligning standards. The alignment of employment rights and high regulatory standards is not just a technical detail; it safeguards social protections and drives economic stability
The Defence and Security Pact must also include strong social safeguards. Any UK participation in EU programmes must be conditional on keeping social and labour clauses, guaranteeing that public money supports quality jobs under collective agreements, and contributes to Europe’s strategic industrial autonomy.  

We echo the call of the ETUC for a dedicated EU–UK Social Dialogue Summit. The involvement of trade unions in shaping and implementing the reset from the start is essential.

As the EU and UK leaders prepare to finalise their renewed partnership, industriAll Europe is clear: this must be more than a political reset. It must be a reset for workers, for good quality jobs, strong employment rights, fair standards, and a shared industrial plan that puts workers before profit. 

“This is a chance to rebuild trust, relaunch social dialogue, and show that Europe and the UK can cooperate not only to manage risks, but to create opportunity”, Judith Kirton-Darling concluded. “Workers are at the foundation of this reset relationship.”

Photo: European Union