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.
