Britain and Germany should enter into a friendship treaty cementing strong bilateral ties following Brexit, British Member of Parliament Tom Tugendhat and his German colleague, Norbert Roettgen, urged on Monday.
“We think it’s time for a German-British Friendship Treaty.
“Which regulates enhanced cooperation and strengthens our shared values; cultural and educational policy; and, yes, our foreign affairs.
“The treaty should supplement Britain’s future relationship with the European Union,’’ the two centre-right politicians wrote in an article published by The Times in London and Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Tugendhat, a member of Britain’s ruling Conservative Party, heads the parliamentary foreign affairs committee in London, and Roettgen, of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), chairs the Bundestag’s committee on foreign affairs.
The two acknowledged “different perspectives” on Brexit, as Britain leaves the EU, however, said it was now time to move on.
CDU politicians have repeatedly expressed regret at Brexit, while Britain’s Conservative Party has largely backed the decision taken in the 2016 referendum.
“Ramping up our embassy staff and the cultural and educational programmes run by institutions such as the Goethe Institute, the British Council or the German Academic Exchange Service can also change the tone,’’ the two said.
They noted that ministers from the two countries would no longer meet regularly in Brussels.
Tugendhat and Roettgen noted shared interests in foreign policy.
“Our two countries stood together on every major international issue, from global trade to the Iran nuclear deal.
“We both recognise that we share a continent, values, making our security indivisible,’’ they wrote. (dpa/NAN)
