Strasbourg, 5 May 2025Member of the European Parliament and EPP rapporteur for relations with the UK Željana Zovko made a speech today at the plenary session in Strasbourg on the preparation of the EU-UK Summit.
On 19 May, a summit will take place in London to deepen the EU-UK. It will be the first summit at leaders level since Brexit.
It is likely that a security pact will be signed at the summit of 19 May. This would pave the way for the UK’s participation in joint procurement and for UK companies to provide military equipment under the European SAFE program.
In her speech, Zovko underlined that the summit of 19 May represents a unique opportunity to deepen the cooperation between the EU and the UK and enhance the EU-UK partnership on security and strategic questions.
Zovko highlighted that in the dialogue with the UK, the EU must take into account the problems of every Member State and notably the interests of coastal countries. The EU make clear that the strengthening of its relation with the UK must lead to a win-win outcome.
Moreover, Zovko stressed that the UK government must understand that for a relation to be solid, it needs to be transparent. She highlighted that the UK government must clarify the reasons why it is not willing to cooperate more with the EU in the Western Balkans.
Let us remind that Zovko is EPP rapporteur for relations with the UK and took part in October in a parliamentary mission of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in London. This mission aimed at exchanging views with representatives of the British government and parliamentarians on strengthening relations between the EU and the UK.