London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

After Brexit, Merkel probably dabbed her eyes – and moved on

After Brexit, Merkel probably dabbed her eyes – and moved on

Analysis: when the German chancellor steps down in September, her departure will leave a gaping hole

Angela Merkel, now on an affable UK farewell tour including tea with the Queen, leaves a paradoxical legacy for many British.

She is often hailed as the upholder of a liberal Europe that faced a populist onslaught from Donald Trump. But she is also the woman who refused to throw David Cameron a lifeline on immigration ahead of the Brexit referendum, judging it not in the national interest. But for Merkel’s stance then, her jocular host now might not have been Boris Johnson, who leaves her cold, but an ageing Cameron in his 11th year in office.

Cameron liked her, describing the east German as an Anglophile who admired British science and democracy from the wrong side of the Berlin Wall. She was the best-briefed person in the room, he recalled, capable of working out in advance other people’s negotiating needs and strategies.

Not that Cameron in his autobiography begrudges Merkel’s unwillingness to concede more on the free movement of EU workers. He largely blames himself in not selling a deal that could have given the UK a comfortable future in the EU.

David Cameron with Angela Merkel in 2016.


Sir Paul Lever, the former British ambassador to Berlin in the six years to 2003, said Berlin weighed the odds of Britain’s importance to the EU, and the euro: “Berlin’s judgement of the price the EU should pay to keep the UK in the EU reflected their assessment of the value of continued British membership.”

That does not mean there was no emotional side to Germany’s attachment to British membership of the EU, not least as a free-trading, liberal counterweight to France’s more protectionist tendencies. Asked how Germany would react if the UK left the EU, the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, replied: “We will cry.”

As a woman of famously pragmatic temperament, one suspects Merkel dabbed her eyes relatively quickly after the referendum result before asking: “What’s next?”

Indeed, within a year, Merkel gave the go-ahead for her diplomats to start negotiating a bilateral agreement with the UK on continued cooperation with Germany on defence and foreign policy. That joint declaration got shelved during the bitter Brexit talks, and if relations had truly soured over the Northern Ireland protocol or vaccine nationalism, it might have died completely.

But the current German ambassador to London, Andreas Michaelis, has been an assiduous advocate of greater cooperation and helped revive the initiative, leading to its publication this week.

Much of it is non-controversial, but it was striking that London and Berlin could find consensual words on Nato, Iran, the Indo-Pacific, future relations with Putin, and the balance between the pursuit of trade and human rights. Both cabinets will now meet once a year, giving a focal point for ministers to think about the relationship.

Johnson even signed up to an affirmation of European unity, something the Germans prize, since they do not want bilateral cooperation with the UK to be seen as a way for the UK to weaken EU foreign policy, or make smaller EU states feel sidelined.

But Merkel will be gone by the end of September, leaving a hole in European politics. The 90-minute foreign policy debate between the candidates to be her successor hosted last week by the Munich Security Conference showed how Brexit is part of the past. The European issue gripping German politicians is relations with Joe Biden and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, not Britain. True, if the Greens make it into government, perhaps via a traffic light coalition, there will be a sharper edge to German foreign policy on arms exports, human rights and relations with autocratic powers. But it is the German-French motor that will drive Europe from now on. The UK has chosen a detachable sidecar.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
×