France raises questions over UK role in EU’s €5bn tech fund as Brexit reset looms

France has raised questions over the UK’s participation in the European Union’s €5bn tech start-up fund, injecting fresh tension into a planned Brexit ‘reset’ that could constrain Britain’s freedom of movement on trade. The challenge emerged as the UK government seeks to recalibrate its post-Brexit relationship with Brussels, a process that the Financial Times reports could limit London's ability to negotiate independent trade deals. The EU fund, designed to bolster tech innovation across the bloc, has drawn UK interest, but Paris’s intervention signals that any closer alignment will come with strings attached. The row underscores the delicate balancing act for the UK: deeper cooperation with the EU risks ceding the very trading autonomy that leaving the bloc was meant to secure. For now, the details of the reset remain behind a paywall, but the French move suggests the road to rapprochement will be anything but smooth.