UK–EU Summit on 20 November: Will Professional Drivers Get Anything on 90/180?

The UK and the EU will hold their second summit in Brussels on 20 November 2026. On 12 October, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced they will welcome Prime Minister Andy Burnham, and leaders are expected to issue a joint declaration at the end. For UK hauliers the obvious question is whether any of it will help drivers who keep running into the Schengen 90/180-day limit. On the published agenda, the answer is no — but there are a few things worth watching.

What Is on the Table

The European Council lists the topics as the defence and security partnership, energy, agrifood rules, climate, people-to-people contacts, and migration and law enforcement. The UK Government's announcement leads on cutting red tape and costs for farmers and food businesses. Press coverage of the announcement names four likely deals: a food and drink trade agreement, linking energy systems, an emissions trading deal, and a youth experience scheme.

The food and drink deal is the one most hauliers will feel. It is designed to remove most routine checks and certificates on agrifood goods moving between Great Britain and the EU, which would mean less paperwork for lorries carrying food. But it is about the goods, not the people driving them.

What Is Not on the Table

Neither the European Council's announcement nor the UK Government's mentions professional drivers, business mobility or the 90/180-day rule, and nor does the press coverage of the agenda. That fits the pattern of the first summit. The May 2025 “Common Understanding” committed both sides to work towards a youth experience scheme and to hold dialogues on business travel and the recognition of professional qualifications under the existing trade agreement. It said nothing about road transport or drivers.

Progress on even those dialogues has been slow. In June, the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee found “no evidence to date of substantive progress being made under the Reset” on business mobility, and called the pace “far too slow”.

What the Industry Is Asking For

The haulage trade bodies have been clear. In written evidence to Parliament in May 2026, the Road Haulage Association called for “a professional drivers' exemption to the 90/180 Schengen rule” in the next phase of the Reset negotiations, and said that as of May the Reset had had no material effect on its members. In February, the RHA and Logistics UK were among the trade groups that wrote to European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič asking for a long-term exemption for professional drivers. Logistics UK's Ben Fletcher said the EU “must recognise the barriers which the 90/180 rule is placing before trade”.

Where Brussels and London Stand

The EU's position has two sides. In its visa strategy, published in January 2026, the Commission said it would explore new rules for extended short stays for groups such as touring artists, competing athletes and truck drivers. It is a welcome acknowledgement, but it is a plan to explore, with no proposal and no timetable. The same strategy plans to phase out the bilateral agreements some Member States use to allow longer stays. And on 1 September, responding to protests by Western Balkan hauliers, a Commission spokesperson said the Schengen rules on short stays are not going to change.

In London, the Government's line has been that exemptions are a matter for the EU and its Member States. In April it said the Department for Transport had raised the 90/180 rule at the UK–EU Specialised Committee on Road Transport, and in July it published research by Frontier Economics on how EES affects commercial road transport. That research found that 24% of the goods operators surveyed were potentially at risk of drivers exceeding the limit, though it makes no policy recommendations. A new written question tabled on 12 October asks what steps the Government is taking to amend the 90/180 framework through a wider UK–EU agreement. It has not yet been answered.

What to Watch on 20 November

What UK Hauliers Should Do

The Bottom Line

The November summit may bring real gains for food exporters and young people, and the haulage industry will welcome anything that cuts paperwork at the border. But nothing announced so far touches the 90/180 rule, and the EU's only move towards longer stays for truck drivers is an idea to explore, not a law.

Hope for a change, but schedule for the rule. It is the one that applies at the border tomorrow.