EU demands UK cede oversight to ECJ and pay fees for migrant data access
The EU has told Britain it must submit any new data-sharing deal on Channel migrants to the European Court of Justice and cover a fee, in exchange for restored access to EU criminal and migration databases.
At a summit slated for next month, UK officials aim to secure a new agreement that would restore British access to the EU's migrant and criminal databases lost after Brexit. The European Union, however, has made clear that any such arrangement must be overseen by the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice and accompanied by a financial charge. Labour's Andy Burnham, who met President von der Leyen in New York, said the discussion will focus on reinstating data sharing that Britain has lacked since the referendum.
The ECJ already monitors the Windsor Framework governing the Northern Ireland border, a role that has drawn criticism from Brexit supporters. Tory deputy leader Alex Burghart warned that paying a fee and yielding oversight could be politically costly, emphasizing that sovereignty cannot be priced. The negotiations come after the EU rejected Prime Minister Keir Starmer's earlier request for database access.
Why it matters
The outcome will shape UK-EU cooperation on migration control and affect political debates over sovereignty.
How this story developed
- Sep 29 Andy Burnham signals possible UK return to the EU after condemning Brexit
- Sep 30 The Prime Minister now says re‑joining the EU is among the options the government will consider.
- Sep 30 Burnham signaled that full EU membership is among the possible routes Labour could evaluate.
- Oct 3 A new poll shows half of British adults now support rejoining the EU.
- Oct 4 Kemi Badenoch opened the Conservative conference by framing the Tories as a common-sense party, unveiling pledges on tighter welfare, prison expansion and free childcare for high-earning families.
- Oct 5 Badenoch pushed to drop the £100,000 childcare tax cap at the conference.
- Oct 6 Announced a cut to employer National Insurance for 21‑ to 24‑year‑olds from 15% to 7.5%.
- Oct 7 Badenoch announced a defence spending target of 3% of GDP.
- Oct 8 Badenoch denounced Reform UK as ethnically exclusive at the conference.
- Oct 8 Burnham announced that the pension triple‑lock will be scrapped after the next general election and its savings will fund a National Care Service.
- Oct 11 Andy Burnham told a podcast that he was confirmed Russia meddled in the 2016 Brexit vote and used the comment to signal a possible push for the UK to rejoin the EU.
- Oct 11 Burnham has moved from acknowledging past interference to proposing an EU re‑entry option in the Labour platform.
- Oct 12 Burnham publicly acknowledged Russian involvement in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
- Oct 13 Tory leaders publicly criticised Burnham’s assertion of Russian interference.
In this story
Related stories
31 in this thread