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Sir Keir Starmer kicked off efforts on a new treaty with Germany as he held talks in Berlin with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The meeting on Wednesday morning is part of the UK prime minister’s goal to reset ties with the EU, following strained and sometimes tempestuous relations under the 14 preceding years of Conservative rule.
London wants to conclude a treaty with Berlin in six months, on market access, energy security and the environment.
A separate accord on defence collaboration is already being negotiated, with hopes it will be agreed in the autumn.
Starmer said: “We have a once in a generation opportunity to reset our relationship with Europe . . . We must turn a corner on Brexit and fix the broken relationships left behind by the previous government.”
Scholz and Starmer were also due to discuss action against illegal migration. The UK prime minister held a separate meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier earlier on Wednesday morning.
The 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.
The UK prime minister is scheduled to continue 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 less than two full 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 key 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.
The new Labour administration is also prioritising trade deals with a six-strong group of Gulf countries and India, with ministers aiming to restart negotiations this autumn.
On Tuesday, Starmer met Bahraini Prime Minister Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa at Downing Street in a bid to boost inward investment from the Gulf.
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