Chancellor Keir Starmer announced plans for a new treaty with Germany but insisted it did not mean reversing Brexit.
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German and British leaders announced plans on Wednesday to draw up a treaty aimed at deepening trade, defense and other ties between the two countries, while new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is moving ahead with plans to “reset” ties 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 took office at the start of July after the previous Conservative government suffered a heavy election defeat but, unlike his predecessor Rishi Sunak, who took 18 months to take office, sent a message by visiting Berlin early in his term.
But his rhetoric about forging a new relationship with the EU has its limits: he has rejected many of the key steps towards closer ties and has been cold-hearted about the idea of a youth mobility pact with the 27-nation bloc.
“We are clear that we want a reset with Europe, with the EU,” Starmer said in Berlin.
But he said: “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, trade – but there is no plan for youth mobility.”
But four years after Britain left the EU, Starmer says he wants to renew ties that have been strained by years of bitter disputes over the terms of Britain'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.
Migration remains a priority
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.
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 build in part on an agreement Britain recently signed with France on enhanced cooperation in defence, security and law enforcement against smuggling organisations.
Starmer's visit to Berlin is part of a two-day trip to key EU nations Germany and France.
He visited the Brandenburg Gate on Tuesday and then met with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier early Wednesday.
Scholz then welcomed Starmer with military honours outside Downing Street. Starmer is due to travel to Paris later on Wednesday to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and attend the opening ceremony of the Paris Paralympics.
