The May-UE EU Summit could set a post-Brexit agreement, according to the German ambassador

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The Ambassador of Germany in the United Kingdom has expressed hope that the EU-UK summit next month will be only the beginning of a warm-up of relationships and could make fertile ground for a future revision of Boris Johnson’s post-boring agreement.

Miguel Berger said that while it depended a lot on the “British Government’s Ambition level”, the Mulch He would be open to discussing options when the trade agreement and cooperation of former Prime Minister Johnson presents himself for a five -year scheduled review in 2026.

The leaders of the May 19 summit in London will initially match a new EU-UK Defense and Security Pact and a statement that establishes a package of reforms, which both parties expect to negotiate at the end of 2025.

These areas include a youth mobility agreement, energy cooperation, rationalization of border controls for food products and mutual recognition of professional qualifications.

But Berger said that if the May talks were successful, they could open the way in 2026 for a second wave of reforms when London and Brussels review the operation of the TCA, which came into force in January 2021.

Berger said a testing session organized by the United Kingdom Commerce and Businessmen Commission last week that the summit would be only the “starting point” of negotiations.

“It is very important that the revision of the TCA coming next year is a politically connected process,” he said.

Some in Brussels see TCA review as a mainly technical exercise and believe that the agreement works well, but other diplomats think that there is a margin to make it work better in the interest of both parties.

The “red lines” of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who rule out Great Britain, which returns to the single market, customs union or free movement, are also important obstacles and Berger said: “Obviously we accept red lines as defined.”

But he added: “In the end, for us, it is the question of the British government’s ambition level. If the British government would like to move more, we are open to discuss it.

“Let’s start with what’s on the table. These are very important points. My hope is that once we move on these topics, we hope that we create a dynamic of cooperation that allows us to go beyond what is currently at the table.”

Throughout the EU-UK reset process under the work government, Germany has been an enthusiastic promoter of the deepest commitment to the United Kingdom. Berlin’s appetite for the closest links has often surpassed those of British politicians and the EU central bureaucracy in Brussels.

In January 2024, Berlin presented a discussion document to the European Commission, the executive arm of the Bloc, which defended the improvement of the ability of both young people and professionals to work in the United Kingdom and the EU, in a sign of their intentions to deepen the relationships with Britain.

In addition to youth mobility for children aged 18 to 30, the document, seen by the Financial Times, said that if the next discussion of mobility between the EU and the United Kingdom “had to have a wider approach,” it could include a number of provisions to help business exchanges in business.

These included reduced costs and procedures for German companies seeking second employees and their families to work in the United Kingdom, easier terms to rotate NGO workers and expanded visas for salaried professionals and self -employed workers.

While, from a trade Perspective, current reset conversations are kept closely limited to a veterinary agreement called to eliminate the red border tape for food and plant exports, and a transfer to re -connect EU energy markets and the United Kingdom, commercial groups would like to see more ambition over time.

In December, the British Chambers of Commerce established a commercial manifesto that requires more flexibility for business travelers, a VAT cooperation agreement Pan-euro-Mediterranean trade agreement and aligning in industrial regulations, among other ideas.

So far, Brussels has it Reform applications For the United Kingdom for deeper integration in the single EU market, unless the United Kingdom accepts wider obligations, including paying EU budgets and accepting elements of EU law.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves this weekend pointed out his support for a youth mobility agreement, telling the Sunday Times that “we want to allow young people in Europe and the United Kingdom to work and travel abroad”. But he warned that net migration had to fall.

Anton Spisak, a member of the Think-Tank Center for European Reform, said that “the real obstacle to privileged access to the single market is the mobility of people.”