Germany was always, during the difficult years of Brexit, the support to which British governments clung to prevent the relationship between the United Kingdom and the EU from sinking completely. Chancellor Angela Merkel was the first to send clear signals to London of her willingness to start a new chapter in the relations between both countries, and her successor, Olaf Scholz, received British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Berlin on Tuesday as the prodigal son who can now be feted. “We want to intensify our relations, and that this does not remain in mere declarations but the beginning of a completely new path,” announced Scholz at the joint press conference. “In the coming months, we are going to work on a treaty [bilateral] “We want to make a full-fledged treaty that covers the whole spectrum of these relations. There has never been such a treaty between the United Kingdom and Germany,” the Chancellor stressed.
Starmer has been Prime Minister for almost two months, and his main foreign policy effort is focused on building goodwill on both sides of the English Channel. He already began his first gestures of rapprochement with the rest of European leaders on July 18 at Blenheim Palace, when the United Kingdom hosted the IV Summit of the European Political Community.
He has already met Chancellor Scholz on five occasions, including this visit. The two leaders, who belong to the same social-democratic political family, have a good rapport that plays in favour of Starmer’s reconciliatory aim. “The new treaty between the United Kingdom and Germany represents an opportunity that only comes once in a generation, an opportunity to benefit the British and German working classes, a testament to the scope and depth of our relationship,” the Prime Minister announced, with somewhat exaggerated rhetoric and few concrete details. The new agreement will cover areas such as science, technology, development, culture, trade and people, Starmer promises, and will be ready by the end of this year.
But at the same time, the British leader reiterates, every time he is asked, that the United Kingdom has turned the page on Brexit. There is no appetite to return to the community club, he says, nor to rejoin its internal market or its common customs area. There is not even the will, on the part of London, to study the recovery of a youth mobility plan that would allow the exchange of people between the island and the continent to resume, with limited study or work permits for those under 30, as many EU countries are pursuing.
Chancellor Scholz reiterated this request to his counterpart during the joint press conference: “Contacts between Germans and British have declined dramatically after Brexit and the pandemic. We want to change that,” he said.
The German leader also described the United Kingdom as an “indispensable partner”, but he avoided giving the impression that the bilateral relations held during the visit were a way of avoiding the necessary relationship between London and Brussels. “With the Withdrawal Agreement, the Ireland Protocol, the Windsor Framework Agreement and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, we have reached a new stage in the process, and we have to work together to achieve this goal.” [los cuatro tratados internacionales que sellaron el Brexit] We have a reliable legal framework that we need to fully develop,” Scholz said.
Knowing what’s happening outside means understanding what’s going to happen inside, so don’t miss anything.
KEEP READING
Starmer is aware that EU capitals are reluctant to reopen treaties that cost blood, sweat and tears to conclude. The new Labour government is clinging to the possibility of improving technical aspects of the trade agreement with the EU when the period for its review opens, scheduled for 2025, but Brussels has already made it clear that this window was planned to correct or improve what has already been agreed, not to renegotiate its content.
Cooperation in Defense
Starmer’s visit, which includes Berlin and Paris, is a further step in the rebuilding of relations to which the British Prime Minister has committed himself. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” he insisted, “to reset our relationship with Europe. We must turn the page on Brexit and mend the broken relationships left behind by the previous government.” [británico]”, he promised.
The Labour Party’s strategy to build bridges with the EU that would allow it to later aspire to economic or commercial improvements was designed even before its electoral victory on 4 July. Starmer’s team is convinced that close cooperation between London and the other EU governments on defence matters will be the quickest way to normalising relations. Starmer and Scholz have expressed their complete agreement on supporting Ukraine, defending Israel’s right to defend itself within the framework of international law, or on the need to promote a future Palestinian state.
The two leaders announced that they will work together on a new bilateral defence agreement, negotiated in parallel to the treaty announced on Wednesday.
The British Prime Minister is aware, as was his Conservative predecessor, Rishi Sunak, that he needs European countries and the EU to tackle a challenge that they all share, including the United Kingdom: illegal immigration. Starmer and Scholz have agreed to draw up a joint plan to share intelligence and resources in this area.
The chancellor, who is under great pressure from the opposition to toughen immigration laws following the attack that last Friday caused three deaths at the hands of a Syrian refugee, took advantage of the joint press conference to announce that he will sit down with the leader of the CDU to study new measures. “We are not going to act as if nothing had happened; we will learn the lessons that are necessary,” he said. Scholz recalled that illegal entries have already been reduced by 20% in recent months, since border controls were put in place, but he acknowledged that this is not enough.
Follow all the international information atFacebook andXor inour weekly newsletter.
