After Brexit: E3. New treaty puts UK, Germany and France back at the heart of European security | Chatham House

After Brexit: E3. New treaty puts UK, Germany and France back at the heart of European security

EXPERT COMMENT

Friedrich Merz’s visit to the UK only a week after that of Emmanuel Macron symbolizes a return of the E3 format – France, Germany and the UK – as the driving force of European security.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was in London this week where he met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and signed a landmark UK–Germany friendship treaty. His visit follows that of French President Emmanuel Macron last week. These back-to-back visits symbolize and reinforce a return of the E3 group – France, Germany and the UK – as the driving force of European security. Despite Brexit, this configuration has the potential to tie the complex European security architecture together.

Revitalizing the bilateral relationship

The UK–Germany Kensington Treaty is first and foremost is a significant upgrade to the bilateral relationship. Before Brexit, Germany largely structured its relationship with the UK primarily via the EU, with the exception of its foreign and security policies. After Brexit, Berlin firmly prioritized the cohesion of the EU single market and the UK–Germany relationship consequently suffered in terms of overall trade, wider economic links, personal contacts and government-to-government ties. The UK dropped from Germany’s third most important trading partner in 2016 to ninth in 2024 – even school exchanges from Germany to the UK have fallen by more than 80 per cent since Brexit. 

Attempts to counter this decline and revitalize the relationship began under the previous German government. Thanks to the close links between the German SPD and the UK Labour Party, Starmer and then German chancellor Olaf Scholz tasked their foreign ministries with negotiating a broader friendship treaty in August 2024. 

Although the finalization of these negotiations was suspended due to the collapse of the Scholz-led government in November 2024, it was clear from the outset that the new German government, in which the SPD continued as a junior partner, wanted to finalize the treaty quickly. In addition, since becoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz has emphasized the UK’s role as a security partner with whom he wants Germany and the EU to stand ‘shoulder to shoulder’, in particular on Russia’s war against Ukraine, and transatlantic relations.

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