Friday, October 31, 2025
Will Labour's planning bill put EU trade deal at risk?
The Guardian reports that EU ambassador Pedro Serrano is said by the Guardian’s sources to have visited the environment secretary, Emma Reynolds this week and warned her that the planning and infrastructure bill going through the House of Lords could jeopardise the trade deal currently being negotiated between the UK and the European Commission:
Access to the EU’s energy markets is also imperilled by the bill, representatives of the EU warned the government. This would be very difficult for the UK, which imports 16% of its electricity from Europe. The UK government estimates the deal will add £9bn to the UK economy by 2040.
The bill, which the government hopes will boost economic growth, removes EU-derived nature protections and instead allows developers to build on wildlife areas if they pay money into a “nature recovery fund” and commit to improve the environment within 10 years.
The EU believes its protections, which the UK used to follow, are stronger as they involve not harming habitats in the first place, and quickly replacing what is lost rather than making a vague long-term commitment.
EU negotiators have also noticed there are provisions in the bill for the Treasury to claw back the money from the nature recovery fund in some instances, meaning it is not fully ringfenced to protect wildlife.
The ambassador is understood to have warned Reynolds that the bill as it stands could flout the “level playing field” rules that underpin the free trade agreement. These rules state that the UK cannot regress on its environmental rules in a way that would give it a competitive advantage over the EU. The bloc believes this bill does exactly that.
EU representatives also raised this concern at a meeting with government officials earlier this month.
It has been noted by the EU that all the ministerial speeches about the bill have been about removing red tape to boost economic growth. EU officials say it will be hard for the government to argue the bill does not give it a competitive advantage in light of this.
When contacted for comment, the EU Delegation said that it does not comment on ongoing discussions with the UK. The European Union remains fully committed to strengthening its close partnership with the United Kingdom, in accordance with the agreements reached at the EU-UK Summit of 19 May.
The issue for the government is whether they want to get some economic growth by compromising their commitment to tackling climate change and protecting nature, or whether they want to do a deal with the EU and get some real growth, something that has been missing in our economy as a result of Brexit.
