Five EU leaders press Brussels for deeper UK energy ties

Five European leaders are turning up the heat on Brussels to get closer to Britain. The leaders of Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Denmark have written to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council chief António Costa, urging deeper cooperation on clean energy. The letter, seen by the Guardian, lands ahead of a keenly watched EU-UK summit in Brussels on 20 November.

At that summit, von der Leyen and Costa will meet UK prime minister Andy Burnham, with deals on food and drink, carbon emissions and youth exchange on the table. But the five leaders want more: a commitment to speed up talks on Britain rejoining the EU's internal electricity market. "We call on you and the UK to agree during the summit on a path towards the conclusion of these negotiations," they wrote, in a letter signed by German chancellor Friedrich Merz, Dutch prime minister Rob Jetten, Belgium's Bart De Wever, Luxembourg's Luc Frieden and Denmark's Mette Frederiksen.

Their pitch: Britain is a "close partner in the energy transition," and plugging into the EU market is "necessary to unlock the full potential of the North Sea area and transform it into the largest clean energy hub in the world." Earlier this year the UK and nine other European countries signed a pact to accelerate the rollout of offshore windfarms in the 2030s and build a power grid in the North Sea. Staying outside the electricity market, the argument goes, is cramping that development and adding to costs.

Money is the sticking point. Joining the internal electricity market would require Britain to chip into the EU budget — specifically cohesion funds aimed at poorer regions — and British officials are wary of taxpayers' cash backing infrastructure projects in central and eastern Europe. Last year, negotiations over Britain's entry into a €150bn (£125bn) EU defence fund collapsed in a dispute over the size of the UK's contribution.

Backers are trying to head off another row over cash. One EU diplomat said the UK "would not simply be paying into EU cohesion funds" but "investing in access to a more integrated, secure and competitive European energy market," adding that more efficient electricity trading would mean lower costs for UK consumers. Industry body Energy UK warned in 2024 that if the current energy relationship stays unchanged, Britain could face £10bn in extra costs between 2024 and 2029 through higher bills and lower Treasury revenues — and that Brexit barriers will only bite harder over time.

Domestically, the mood is shifting. Burnham has said his government would examine the options in the UK's relationship with the EU, from a customs union to a return to the single market to going "all the way" with full membership. Stella Creasy, chair of the Labour Movement for Europe, told the BBC's Today programme that Britain's exports are down since leaving, arguing that "the biggest trading bloc in the world is on our doorstep, and we walked out of it." She called Burnham's comments on a closer EU relationship "telling the truth."