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Sir Keir Starmer kicked off efforts to agree a new treaty with Germany as he held talks in Berlin with Chancellor Olaf Scholz as part of his bid to reset Britain’s ties with the EU.
The two sides are aiming to strike a deal in coming months on defence, economic ties, energy security and the environment, but indicated differences in their approach at a joint press conference on Wednesday.
“We want to grasp this outstretched hand,” Scholz said.
He added that the two countries sought “to base our relations on an entirely new footing” with “a treaty that reflects the full breadth of our relationship”, but emphasised that defence would be at the centre of discussions.
By contrast, Starmer highlighted what he said would be the potential deal’s “new impetus for our trade relations” and its boost for growth.
Last month, the UK and Germany issued a declaration on defence, setting out priorities including joint procurement and interoperability, as well as co-ordination on supporting Ukraine and emerging threats.
London has signalled that a more detailed agreement based on that framework will be finalised in the autumn and form one of the pillars of the wider UK-German treaty.
Berlin is also keen to “intensify dialogue” with London over possible measures to increase mobility between the UK and Germany — particularly for younger people.
“Contact between our societies has declined massively after Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic,” Scholz said. “We want to change that. People who know each other very well understand each other better.”
Starmer later declined to explicitly rule out any youth mobility scheme, under which young people from the EU could live, work and study for a limited period in the UK, with corresponding rights for young Britons.
Instead, he said Britain did “not have plans” for such a scheme, while adding there would be no return to the free movement of people with the EU, which is distinct from time-limited exchanges.
He added that the UK wanted to boost “exchanges” with the bloc.
In advance of the Berlin meeting, the UK prime minister hailed what he depicted as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to reset our relationship with Europe”.
He added: “We must turn a corner on Brexit and fix the broken relationships left behind by the previous government.”
His Labour government says it wants to improve the UK’s access to trade with Europe, following what it characterises as Boris Johnson’s “botched” Brexit deal.
But Starmer has ruled out re-entering the EU’s customs union or single market and Brussels has signalled it has little appetite to reopen full-blown trade negotiations.
Scholz said that the UK’s Brexit deal was a “reliable legal framework” for the countries’ relationship, signalling Brussels’ importance in any talks to improve economic ties.
While Brussels and London have also been in on-off talks over closer defence and security ties since the UK’s 2016 vote to leave the EU, some in the UK would prefer to focus instead on bilateral ties with major EU military powers such as Germany.
The UK prime minister is scheduled to move on to Paris on Wednesday night where he will attend the Paralympics opening ceremony before visiting the Élysée Palace on Thursday.
Although Starmer has been in office barely two months, the trip marks his fifth meeting with Scholz and his fourth with French President Emmanuel Macron since he became prime minister, a sign of his drive to bolster relations with European allies.
Downing Street likened the new partnership sought by London and Berlin to the 2010 Lancaster House agreement between the UK and France to deepen defence and security co-operation.
Germany, the largest economy in Europe, is the UK’s second-biggest trading partner, accounting for 8.5 per cent of all UK trade.
Starmer is hosting an international investment summit in October and will seek to use his two-day European tour to build links with businesses.
In Berlin, Starmer is meeting the chief executives of Siemens Energy and Rheinmetall, Germany’s biggest defence company, while in Paris he will meet executives at technology company Thales, satellite operator Eutelsat, and pharmaceutical and healthcare company Sanofi.
Additional reporting by Maxine Kelly in London and Henry Foy in Brussels