BERLIN (AP) — The leaders of Germany and Britain announced plans Wednesday to draw up a treaty aimed at deepening trade, defense and other ties between the two countries.
The move comes as Britain's new Prime Minister Keir Starmer moves ahead with plans to “reset” relations with the European Union.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed his fellow centre-left leader Starmer's desire to renew ties with the EU, saying “we want to take the hand that is offered to us”.
Starmer became prime minister in early July after the previous Conservative government suffered a crushing election defeat. Four years after Britain left the EU, he says he wants to reset ties strained by years of bitter disputes over the terms of the country's departure.
He said he wanted to conclude a bilateral agreement with Germany, Europe's largest economy, by the end of the year.
“It will be ambitious and far-reaching, including trade, economy, defense and many other issues,” he told reporters. The two leaders, Ukraine's largest military donors, stressed their determination to continue supporting them.
Starmer said the two countries would also draw up a “joint action plan to tackle illegal immigration”. His government has been under pressure to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, despite scrapping a controversial Conservative plan to allow migrants a one-way journey to Rwanda.
➡️ Promoting business and trade
➡️ Deepening defense and security cooperation
➡️ Strengthening joint action against illegal immigrationprime minister Translator To meet in Berlin @Federal Bureaucrat Begin negotiations on a new bilateral treaty. pic.twitter.com/5f1jEA2qhE
— British Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) August 28, 2024
Immigration is another issue on which Scholz's government has long been under intense pressure, but it has become even more so since Friday's attack in Solingen, where a suspected Syrian militant who had escaped deportation is accused of killing three people.
The proposed treaty between Britain and Germany would be modelled in part on an agreement Britain recently concluded with France on enhanced defence, security and law enforcement cooperation against smuggling organisations.
Starmer sent a message by visiting Berlin early in his term, unlike his predecessor Rishi Sunak who spent 18 months in the post, but there are limits to his rhetoric about forging a new relationship with the EU.
The prime minister has rejected many of the key steps to strengthen ties and has also shown a cold shoulder to the idea of a youth mobility pact with the 27-nation European Union.
“We are clear that we want a reset with Europe, with the EU,” Starmer said in Berlin.
But “that doesn't mean reversing Brexit or re-entering the single market or the customs union, but it does mean a closer relationship on many fronts – the economy, defence, exchanges – but no plans for youth mobility.”
Team of idiots: Introducing Keir Starmer's Trump-hating, anti-Brexit cabinethttps://t.co/uRqMQjxVb4
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 6, 2024
