Burnham pursues three UK-EU agreements at November summit

Andy Burnham is preparing to pursue three agreements with the European Union at a November 20 summit, saying the package under negotiation could add up to 0.4% to UK gross domestic product. The proposed agreements cover food and agriculture, emissions trading and a youth mobility scheme. They have not been finalized, and officials have said some details remain under negotiation. Burnham is due to meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa in Brussels. Burnham said the 0.4% estimate was based on updated Treasury calculations and was higher than an earlier estimate of 0.3%. The figure is a projection conditional on the agreements being secured, not a confirmed economic outcome. The reports repeat Burnham’s account of the estimate and do not provide the underlying calculation. The agricultural agreement is intended to ease trade in food and farming products and simplify requirements for transporting animals between the UK and EU. Under a proposal described in the negotiations, travellers could use pet passports instead of obtaining separate certificates for each trip. The prospective arrangement could also free up trade in...