UK proposes ‘tech pact’ with EU to boost AI, innovation

Britain floated the idea of striking a tech deal with the EU to boost ties in AI and other innovative sectors on Friday, as part of a push to rebuild post-Brexit relations.

UK business and trade secretary Peter Kyle said he discussed the possibility with EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic during a Brussels meeting focused on other bilateral issues.

“There are enormous opportunities out there for us to partner,” Kyle told a conference in the Belgian capital. “A tech partnership, for example.”

With its vast capital markets London could play a key role in helping scale-up tech firms to rival American and Asian giants, he said.

“We are the spin-out capital of Europe. We are the unicorn capital of Europe,” Kyle later told reporters, referring to the creation of new companies and start-ups valued at more than $1 billion.

“But I want to go much further, and we are much more likely to go global by working with European countries and the European Union.”

Britain signed a similar -- later-suspended -- deal to align on innovation and spur private-sector investment with the United States in September.

The idea of a repeat with the EU comes as London and Brussels painstakingly negotiate other matters under a “reset” in relations vowed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to fire up Britain’s insipid economy.

Kyle met Sefcovic as the EU and UK are due to hold a summit at a yet-to-be confirmed date, likely in July.

Both parties are hoping to present several deals, namely on food and animal safety standards, a youth mobility scheme, and the linking of their emissions trading systems, at the event.

But discussions have hit a series of roadblocks.

Britain is said to be wanting a cap on the number of visas granted under the mobility scheme and to be unwilling to pay into some EU funds as requested by Brussels.

The EU on the other hand has been demanding greater access to British universities for its 18- to 30-year-olds -- and for them to be allowed to pay the same tuition fees forked out by their local peers.

Kyle said he had “hope and optimism” concerning the summit, after what he described as a “positive” and “vigorous” conversation with Sefcovic.