London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

France, Italy and Germany vie for post-Brexit deals with UK

France, Italy and Germany vie for post-Brexit deals with UK

Talks on defence are first signs UK is willing to forge positive bilateral relations with its European partners
France, Italy and Germany, the three leading European powers, are each trying to reach bilateral post-Brexit agreements with the UK, after Britain said it was not interested in closer security and foreign policy cooperation with the EU.

The behind-the-scenes discussion at ambassadorial and ministerial levels runs in contrast to some of the negative rhetoric from Downing Street about its approach to its EU partners. The discussions have focused on defence cooperation but go far wider, and would be the first signs that the UK was capable of forging positive bilateral relations with its European partners.

Boris Johnson’s willingness last week to host the Hungarian prime minister as the first mainland European leader in Downing Street was regarded as a setback to a gradual normalisation of British-European relations. Viktor Orbán is seen as a disruptor of the EU. The UK rejected a foreign and security component when it negotiated Brexit with the EU in December, leading European countries to improve bilateral relations.

But Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister, on his recent visit to the UK for the G7 foreign ministers’ summit, also agreed plans to revive before the summer the annual meeting between French and UK defence and foreign ministers. The last such meeting was in Brittany two years ago, but no meet-up occurred last year as a result of Covid and Brexit.

“On many issues, we have congruent views, shared analysis or common interests. We are neighbours. We cannot sit there immobile staring at one another,” Le Drian said.

Despite the recent row between French and Channel Islands fishers, the French have not ruled out a summit between Johnson and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, this year.

France and the UK are the major European military powers and, since the Lancaster House agreement was signed 10 years ago, the two countries have maintained close defence ties.

The Italian embassy in the UK also hopes Rome will reach an understanding or mini-treaty with the UK this year.

The Italian deputy defence minister, Giorgio Mulè, claimed the UK’s recent integrated foreign and security review showed “a willingness to keep the British commitment to security in Europe high”.

To relaunch cooperation, he said it was necessary “to anchor an industrial policy capable of coping with the aggressive and often ruthless international and, in particular, Chinese competition with competence, know-how, ability and technological innovation”.

Mulè is looking at ways in which Italian domestic legislation can be adapted so that UK defence trade with Italy can be treated as trade with a like-minded partner and not simply as a third partner. Italy and the UK historically have cooperated closely on defence production, including on large products such as the EH 101 heavy helicopters.

For years, Leonardo and its British counterpart BAE Systems have been working on the sixth-generation fighter, the Tempest, the result of a bilateral collaboration that in turn has created larger industrial consortia.

As president of the G20, Italy is also trying to dovetail its work on climate change with the UK, which is chair of the UN Cop26 summit in Glasgow. Cooperation with the UK on foreign policy has also been made easier with the appointment of Mario Draghi as Italian prime minister. Although he is a staunch supporter of the EU, he is far more sceptical about links with Russia and China, the preference sometimes of Italy’s populist parties.

Germany and the UK have been working for months on a joint statement on British-German cooperation, underscoring the shared values between the two countries despite Brexit.

Andreas Michaelis, the German ambassador to the UK, is quite open in admitting in this phase the focus has to be on building a stronger bilateral relationship with the UK, rather than the UK into the hands of the EU. The UK, he says, would be an ideal partner for a deep alliance with Germany.

There are still discussions about whether the UK will see its main foreign policy cooperation with Europe via Nato, the G7, the E3 or something specifically with Europe.

The E3 – Germany France and the UK – has been used for many years as the vehicle with which to coordinate policy on Iran, and at the Nato summit Johnson convened a meeting of the E3 plus Turkey to discuss northern Syria, saying he would like to see the E3 coordinate more in future.

But for Germany, a significant extension of the format would risk undermining the EU, and Germany’s historic role as defender of the interests of smaller states.

The E3 clearly excludes other big players such as Italy, Poland and the Netherlands.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
×