{"id":271736,"date":"2025-07-18T09:58:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T09:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/271736\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T09:58:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T09:58:17","slug":"germany-and-uk-sign-post-brexit-friendship-treaty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/271736\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany and UK sign post-Brexit friendship treaty"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer sign a new friendship treaty. Photo: Michael Kappeler\/dpa<\/p>\n

Five years after Brexit, Germany and the United Kingdom have formally placed their relationship on a new footing with a wide-ranging friendship treaty.<\/p>\n

Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed the 27-page agreement \u2013 accompanied by a 17-point action plan \u2013 during a ceremony at London\u2019s Victoria and Albert Museum on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Merz, on his first visit to the UK since taking office in May, called it a \u201chistoric day for German-British relations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to work more closely together, especially after the United Kingdom\u2019s exit from the European Union. It is long overdue that we conclude such a treaty with each other,\u201d the conservative politician said at the museum.<\/p>\n

The treaty aims to deepen cooperation in key areas including defence, economic policy, migration and the fight against cross-border crime.<\/p>\n

It also outlines concrete measures to ease travel between the two countries, such as visa-free school trips and plans for a direct rail link.<\/p>\n

The preamble says both governments are \u201cguided by the desire to join forces for a prosperous, secure and sustainable future for their
citizens and their open, democratic societies in the face of fundamental changes of the geopolitical environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defence: Mutual assistance and arms cooperation<\/p>\n

The treaty underscores the countries\u2019 mutual defence obligations as NATO allies, which is made especially significant given the UK\u2019s status as a nuclear power. The goal is to boost European deterrence and defence over the next decade.<\/p>\n

The two sides plan to jointly develop a European-made long-range weapons system capable of striking targets up to 2,000 kilometres away, addressing a capability gap with Russian medium-range missiles.<\/p>\n

Export rules for jointly developed military equipment will also be eased. Germany\u2019s traditionally strict regulations have slowed arms exports in the past, but the UK hopes a more flexible approach could unlock billions in potential sales.<\/p>\n

Visa-free travel and rail links<\/p>\n

One of the most tangible steps is visa-free travel for German school groups visiting the UK, set to take effect by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Currently, students without German citizenship \u2013 such as those from Syria or Afghanistan \u2013 must obtain UK visas, which can be difficult and have led some schools to cancel trips entirely.<\/p>\n

An expert working group will also look into broader \u201cmobility challenges\u201d created by Brexit, especially in education, science, culture and political exchange.<\/p>\n

A long-term goal is to establish a direct passenger rail connection between Germany and the UK. Currently, such travel requires transfers due to border control issues. A task force will be created to move this forward, with the first direct trains expected within a decade.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, British travellers will gain access to automated e-gates in Germany by the end of August, with further expansion planned as infrastructure allows.<\/p>\n

Migration: Tackling human smuggling<\/p>\n

Germany and the UK have agreed on an action plan to combat irregular migration, with a focus on human-smuggling networks. This includes legal cooperation, joint criminal prosecutions and strengthened border controls.<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s Labour government faces mounting pressure at home to reduce the number of small-boat crossings across the English Channel \u2013 a politically charged issue that has fuelled the rise of Nigel Farage\u2019s Reform UK\u00a0party, currently polling ahead of other parties.<\/p>\n

With more than 20,000 Channel crossings already recorded this year, 2025 could break previous records.<\/p>\n

Germany is seen as both a transit route for migrants and a source of boats and equipment used in the Channel crossings.<\/p>\n

Last week, Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron announced a new migrant return agreement due to begin within weeks aimed at deterring migrants from making the dangerous journey. The deal still faces legal hurdles, however.<\/p>\n

Merz and Starmer have crossed paths several times since Merz was sworn in on May 6, including during a surprise joint visit to Kiev alongside Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk just days later.<\/p>\n

Source: dpa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer sign a new friendship treaty. Photo: Michael Kappeler\/dpa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-271736","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114873650623296131","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}