Prime Minster opens full box of options with EU – what does this mean for the environment?

27 October 2026

The european union flag waves in the wind

Ben Reynolds

Ben Reynolds is Executive Director at the Institute for European Environmental Policy UK, prior to which he worked at Sustain the alliance for better food and farming for almost 20 years.

The next UK EU Summit on 20 November promises to mark a new chapter in relations across Europe. Andy Burnham’s recent speeches at the Labour Party Conference and in Parliament [1] are perhaps the most significant sign of serious consideration being given to reviewing our relationship with the EU since Theresa May’s Government.

These pathways towards closer integration could include participation in the Single Market, membership of a Customs Union, European Economic Area (EEA)-style arrangements, or eventual rejoining of the European Union. While much discussion has focused on the economic and political implications of these scenarios, comparatively little attention has been paid to their environmental consequences.

Immediately after Brexit, the EU’s European Green Deal laid much of the groundwork for the significant levels of differing standards we now see between the EU and UK. The extent of this is revealed in new research from IEEP UK out last week [2] showing the EU has put in place over 50 new directives and regulations on the environment and climate, and this ‘green gap’ is evident with the EU now having higher standards on managing sewage; preventing microplastic pollution; mandating higher energy efficiency standards; and restoring nature.

Equally, the UK has introduced a number of environmental initiatives that differ from, or go beyond, existing EU approaches, such as reforms to agricultural policy in England and biodiversity net gain (BNG) requirements. At the same time, the UK has developed new systems of environmental governance and oversight, including bodies such as the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), whilst losing others.

As closer UK-EU cooperation becomes a growing feature of political debate, important questions arise. Could future integration arrangements require changes to these policy areas? Might some progressive UK measures be constrained, amended or even reversed in order to align with EU rules? And how might the direction of travel in EU policy affect these assessments?

During the frantic and often toxic debate ahead of fully leaving the EU, some of the larger eNGOs looked at the environmental implications of Brexit [3] – but much has changed since then and a simple reversal of recent years is neither possible, nor desirable in many cases. However, the types of rules that come into scope through the options possibly back on the table, from the single market to customs union, still hold some clues to what might be at stake. In short, as this 2018 IEEP paper details [4], these different relationships will require different degrees of alignment.

Much of the discussions following the 2025 Reset summit looked at aligning on select product standards to ease trade barriers – for example on agri-food products. But the terms of this agreement also creep into other issues including alignment on ‘operational standards’, which could include fewer emissions coming from new industrial or energy infrastructure being built.

Similarly, ‘procedural standards’ - such as environmental assessment for development projects and access to environmental information - may be in scope and become more contentious as the UK is looks at ways to change things like planning laws to increase building.

For those despairing over the attack on habitats and nature protection in recent years, finding ways to preserve these will be welcome, but the desire for simplification and potential for deregulation is strong in the EU too, even if it moves at a slower pace.

Any more formalised relationship with the EU will only crank up the level to which EU rules will apply in the UK. All those working on environmental issues should be clear eyed about the impact of these negotiations, as they have the potential to impact upon the full range of our work.

On the 23 November IEEP UK are holding a webinar to digest the environmental implications of the UK EU Reset summit [5].