Image source, Getty Images

Another main topic expected today is fishing.

Fishing only s for an estimated 0.04% of UK GDP, but it was a big talking point during the Brexit campaign. There were promises that the UK would become an "independent coastal state".

Under the Brexit deal in 2020 however, EU boats were given continued access to UK waters.

That deal runs out at the end of June next year.

Several EU countries, including , want to extend the current arrangements for longer.

However, UK fishermen are worried about this. The Scottish Fishermen's Federation has written to the prime minister ahead of today's summit, asking for fishing rights to be protected.

"If another multi-year deal is on the table, that must come with some transfer of meaningful commercially viable fishing opportunities to the UK," Elspeth Macdonald, Chief Executive of the SFF, told BBC's The World Tonight programme last week.

Image source, EPA

A new security and defence pact could be announced today, as Labour promised an "ambitious" agreement to "strengthen co-operation on the threats that we face".

Some political parties say the Nato alliance is enough, and the UK doesn't need another pact.

But there’s more to it than just another pact. One area of interest is a new European Commission initiative, Security Action for Europe (SAFE), which would offer loans to member states to help them invest in defence through common procurement.

The UK wants its defence companies to be able to bid for contracts under this scheme.

But EU countries appear split over whether non- such as the UK should be allowed to take part - you can read more here.

Haggling, fish, sovereignty, cash and courts forming the talkspublished at 06:33 British Summer Time 19 May

06:33 BST 19 May

Chris Mason
Political editor

Image source, Getty Images

Whatever your views about Brexit, a word of warning: the next 24 hours or so might be triggering if the kind of headlines and phrases that made the news for years on end became mildly off-putting roughly between 2016 and 2020.

There will be talk of haggling, of fish, of sovereignty, of cash and of courts. And we have already had senior figures on both sides talking about last-minute tweaks and that old favourite in the phraseology of EU negotiations: "Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed."

It feels like a landmark moment. After the years of Brexit noise, there were the years of (relative) Brexit silence. Now, it is returning to the news again.

What will change is actually relatively narrowly defined – the government has promised it will not take the UK back into three of the biggest pillars of the EU: its customs union, single market or the freedom of movement of people around the bloc.

But that much accepted, there is plenty that is being talked about.

• Read more here from Chris Mason's latest insight into the last-minute deal talks

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

There was a “breakthrough” in talks between the UK and the EU last night.

Government sources tell me that the remaining stumbling blocks to a deal, mostly concerning fishing rights, were solved at about 22:30 BST on Sunday night.

It clears the way for Keir Starmer and EU leaders to announce a deal today at the first post-Brexit UK-EU summit.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is hosting EU leaders at a summit in London today - topics include defence, trade, fishing, and a possible youth mobility scheme.

Downing Street has called it "an opportunity" to bring benefits for people in the UK and the EU - and this morning, sources say a "breakthrough" was reached. We'll have more on that in the next post.

But opposition parties are sceptical.

Details of any deals have not been announced, but the Conservatives call the talks a "surrender summit", Reform UK fear "the great British sellout", and the Liberal Democrats say the talks are a "huge opportunity" the UK might waste.

We'll be following the talks throughout the day from our newsroom in London, with our reporters at the summit, so stay with us.