28 August 2024
The joint declaration between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Scholz on deepening and enhancing UK-Germany relations
Germany and the United Kingdom share a strong friendship, common values and mutual interests. We are close partners in Europe and internationally as well as long-standing Allies in NATO. Today, given the common challenges our two countries face, we are convinced that the time has come to take our bilateral relations to the next level.
To this end, we are launching work on a bilateral cooperation treaty and will hold government-to-government consultations to sign it by early next year. This treaty will reflect our status as the closest of partners in Europe, with the strongest possible bilateral cooperation on the issues that matter most to our populations. It shall reflect the rich ties between our two countries, peoples and governments across the breadth of our bilateral relationship, in full accordance with Germany’s membership of the EU, and the UK’s relationship with the EU.
Our joint priorities include foreign policy cooperation in peace and security, growing our economies, industrial transformation, law enforcement cooperation and action to tackle irregular migration, increased people-to-people contacts, youth and education, energy security, climate and nature policy, development policy, transport and infrastructure as well as technology, research and innovation.
Germany and the UK are determined to defend and promote peace and security in Europe. As leading European Allies in NATO, we will work together with our Allies and partners to ensure that our ability to deter and defend in the Euro-Atlantic area remains credible at all times and against any possible threats or adversaries. We are committed to deterring a more aggressive Russia, sustaining our support to Ukraine and boosting European defence.
Our Foreign Ministries will coordinate work to negotiate the bilateral treaty, in close consultation with the German Federal Chancellery and the Prime Minister’s Office/Cabinet Office and the respective ministries.
In this context we welcome the work that is already being conducted at pace between by our Defence Ministers on a new agreement on defence to strengthen the links between our defence communities, industries and armed forces, and which act as a key pillar of the forthcoming bilateral cooperation treaty.