UK: GERMANY-Merz To Visit 17 July To Sign Bilateral Pact

Politico reports that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will visit the UK on 17 July to sign a bilateral Anglo-German treaty alongside UK PM Sir Keir Starmer. The article claims that the "wide-ranging pact promoting cooperation on defence, economic growth and tackling illegal migration" has been in the works for nearly a year, starting under Merz's predecessor, Olaf Scholz. It is also set to "feature a mutual assistance clause specifying [that] a threat to one nation would be regarded as a threat to the other."

• The treaty is intended to be more wide-ranging than the defence and security pact signed in October 2024. Politico: "One area of discussion which will be more sensitive is the treaty's wording on cross-border movement, as Berlin pushes for a new EU-wide agreement on youth mobility while Starmer faces pressure to cut migration."
• The pact comes as the Starmer gov't as it looks to repair relations with European allies. French President Emmanuel Macron is in the UK next week for a state visit. For the UK gov't there is less political risk in agreeing to bilateral treaties with EU member states, rather than a more wide-ranging deal with the EU as a whole. However, given the competencies of the EU vis-a-vis the member states, these will be limited to areas such as defence and security, rather than - for example - trade, where decisions are finalised in Brussels rather than national capitals.