On 19 May 2025, António Costa, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, met with Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK), in London. This was the first EU-UK summit since the UK's withdrawal from the EU. The political leaders discussed closer cooperation for peace and security in Europe and the establishment of a new strategic partnership. Three documents were adopted:

• A Joint Statement, in which the leaders agreed a new Strategic Partnership between the UK and EU, building on the Windsor Framework, and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The Joint Statement also outlines global and strategic priorities of joint concern, including a reaffirmation of the parties' firm and continued support for Ukraine.
• A Security and Defence Partnership, which frames cooperation across a wide range of areas, such as regional security issues, cyber security, hybrid threats and the resilience of critical infrastructure, counter-terrorism and -extremism, and external aspects of the fight against corruption and illicit finance.
• A Common Understanding on a renewed agenda for European Union – United Kingdom cooperation, which sets out undertakings that are to be jointly implemented in view of a strengthened bilateral cooperation.

In the area of internal security and judicial cooperation, the renewed agenda explores several areas for a reinforced law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. In particular, the UK and the European Commission agreed to do the following:

• Intensify technical work in the Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation with the aim to further streamline the cooperation on mutual legal assistance;
• Explore opportunities to enhance the timeliness, efficiency and effectiveness of the provisions on surrender (Title VII of Part Three of the TCA);
• Finalise pending arrangements regarding collaboration between Europol and the UK's national crime agency and further develop the agencies' cooperation, including within the framework of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats;
• Increase operational cooperation between the UK and Europol, for instance on mutually beneficial exchange of information related to terrorism and other serious crimes;
• Reinforce mutual and reciprocal exchanges of data on fingerprints, DNA and the criminal records of third-country nationals;
• Explore extending the exchange of data to facial images for the prevention, detection and investigation of criminal offences;
• Work on potential solutions enabling law enforcement authorities to obtain data from electronic communications held by service providers in different jurisdictions.

The renewed agenda also suggests that the EU Drugs Agency and the relevant UK authorities could conclude a working arrangement on drug-related risks and threats.

Finally, the EU leaders and the UK Prime Minister stressed the importance of regular exchanges, and agreed to hold:

• Regular high-level meetings on joint strategic interests, such as economy and trade, and justice and home affairs;
• Foreign and security policy dialogues every six months;
• Summits every year.

At the joint press conference, António Costa summarised the main message of the renewed cooperation: "The United Kingdom and the European Union are stronger when we stand together — for prosperity, for security and for peace in Europe and beyond."