Latest news with #FriedrichMerz
Bloomberg
2 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Germany Rejects EU's Proposed €2 Trillion Draft Budget
Good morning. Germany said no to the European Commission's €2 trillion budget proposal. Keir Starmer and Friedrich Merz will sign a new treaty in London. And about 1,000 people join the waitlist every night for fried chicken. Listen to the day's top stories. Germany rejected the EU's nearly €2 trillion budget proposal for its next seven-year period, starting in 2028, hours after it was announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels. The plan includes €100 billion in aid for Ukraine.
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Germany to crack down on migrant smuggling gangs entering the UK
Germany is set to crack down and tighten its laws on smuggling migrant gangs entering the United Kingdom by the end of the year. According to the BBC, Downing Street announced an agreement between the UK and Germany that will cover topics such as migration, business and defence. The agreement will reportedly be signed on Thursday as part of the new German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz's, first official UK visit. According to the BBC, the new changes will make it illegal for people in Germany to enable migration to the United Kingdom. Germany initially agreed to tighten its laws in December under the previous government, but Merz has now decided to change the law by the end of the year. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke about the new German chancellor's 'commitment' to changing the laws. 'Chancellor Merz's commitment to make necessary changes to German law to disrupt the supply lines of the dangerous vessels which carry illegal migrants across the Channel is hugely welcome,' Starmer said.
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Germany to seize small boats under migrant deal with Starmer
Germany will close a loophole that will allow police to seize small boats used by smuggling gangs in the Channel, following treaty talks with Britain. Sir Keir Starmer and Friedrich Merz will seal the 'friendship treaty' on Thursday in the UK. It includes a pledge by Germany to make people smuggling to Britain a criminal offence by the end of the year. The treaty comes a week after the Prime Minister struck a 'one in, one out' migrant return deal with Emmanuel Macron of France. There is no similar returns deal with the German chancellor. The small boats, which have crossed in record numbers this year, embark from French beaches. However, Germany is a transit country for migrants hoping to reach Britain and has emerged as a storage hub for boats, engines and life jackets used by migrants in taxi boats. Under German law, people smuggling into non-EU countries is not a crime. This means that trafficking migrants to Britain has not technically been illegal since Brexit, making it more difficult for German police to seize dinghies used by gangs to make the deadly crossings. A BBC investigation last year exposed how people smugglers were operating in the city of Essen. A journalist was offered an inflatable dinghy with an outboard motor and 60 life jackets for £12,500 to cross the Channel by two smugglers in the Western German city. People smugglers do break the law if they pass through EU countries Belgium or France but Mr Merz is willing to make trafficking people to the UK an explicit crime. Sources confirmed that Mr Merz is prepared to renew that commitment made by his predecessor Olaf Scholz last year before he lost elections in February. Ahead of the meetings on Thursday, Sir Keir said: 'The progress we are making today is further proof that by investing in our relationships with like-minded friends and partners, we can deliver real change for working people. 'The Treaty we will sign today, the first of its kind, will bring the UK and Germany closer than ever. It not only marks the progress we have already made and the history we share. It is the foundation on which we go further to tackle shared problems and invest in shared strengths. 'Chancellor Merz's commitment to make necessary changes to German law to disrupt the supply lines of the dangerous vessels which carry illegal migrants across the Channel is hugely welcome. As the closest of allies, we will continue to work closely together to deliver on the priorities that Brits and Germans share.' The friendship treaty is the latest step in Sir Keir's post-Brexit reset with Europe, after a security and cultural exchange pact with France and a May agreement with the EU. The Telegraph revealed on Thursday that the agreement included efforts to facilitate Eurostar-style direct trains from London to Germany. The two countries will also sign a defence cooperation treaty and agree to make school exchanges easier after an 80 per cent drop in German school trips to the UK since Brexit. The Telegraph understands there will also be languages, underlining a shared commitment to fighting climate change and boosting interconnections between Germany and British renewable wind in the North Sea.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Leaders of the UK and Germany to sign a treaty on defense, trade and migration
LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are set to sign a treaty on Thursday pledging to tighten defense ties and step up law-enforcement cooperation against gangs that smuggle migrants across the English Channel. The center-right German leader is in London on his first official visit to Britain since taking office in May. Starmer visited Berlin in August 2024, announcing plans for the U.K.-Germany 'friendship and cooperation' treaty with Merz's predecessor, Olaf Scholz. A priority for Starmer, who heads the center-left Labour Party, is curbing the gangs behind cross-channel people smuggling. About 37,000 people were detected crossing the English Channel from France in small boats in 2024, and more than 20,000 people made the crossing in the first six months of 2025. Dozens of people have died trying to cross. Berlin agreed last year to make facilitating the smuggling of migrants to the U.K. a criminal offence, a move that will give law enforcements more powers to investigate the supply and storage of small boats to be used for the crossings. Merz is expected to commit to adopting the law change by the end of the year. 'Chancellor Merz's commitment to make necessary changes to German law to disrupt the supply lines of the dangerous vessels which carry illegal migrants across the Channel is hugely welcome,' Starmer said, calling the U.K. and Germany 'the closest of allies.' Germany and the U.K. – Europe's largest and second-largest economies – are also expected to announce a series of investment deals. The treaty builds on a defense pact the U.K. and Germany, two of the biggest European supporters of Ukraine, signed last year pledging closer co-operation against a growing threat from Russia. It includes a promise to come to one another's aid in case of attack. The two leaders also are expected to agree Thursday to joint export campaigns for jointly produced equipment such as Boxer armored vehicles and Typhoon jets, and to develop a deep precision strike missile in the next decade. Starmer has worked to improve relations with Britain's neighbors, strained by the U.K.'s acrimonious departure from the European Union in 2020. He has sought to rebuild ties strained by years of ill-tempered wrangling over Brexit terms. He has ruled out rejoining the 27-nation bloc's single market or customs union, and has been cool to the idea of a youth mobility agreement with the EU, but has sought to reduce trade barriers and to strengthen defense cooperation. 'I make no secret of the fact I very much regret to this day that Britain left the European Union,' Merz told the German parliament last week. 'But if they at least work together with us again in the area of foreign and security policy, then that is a very good sign. Prime Minister Keir Starmer wants that.' ___ Moulson reported from Berlin. Jill Lawless And Geir Moulson, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Independent
3 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Leaders of the UK and Germany to sign a treaty on defense, trade and migration
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are set to sign a treaty on Thursday pledging to tighten defense ties and step up law-enforcement cooperation against gangs that smuggle migrants across the English Channel. The center-right German leader is in London on his first official visit to Britain since taking office in May. Starmer visited Berlin in August 2024, announcing plans for the U.K.- Germany 'friendship and cooperation' treaty with Merz's predecessor, Olaf Scholz. A priority for Starmer, who heads the center-left Labour Party, is curbing the gangs behind cross-channel people smuggling. About 37,000 people were detected crossing the English Channel from France in small boats in 2024, and more than 20,000 people made the crossing in the first six months of 2025. Dozens of people have died trying to cross. Berlin agreed last year to make facilitating the smuggling of migrants to the U.K. a criminal offence, a move that will give law enforcements more powers to investigate the supply and storage of small boats to be used for the crossings. Merz is expected to commit to adopting the law change by the end of the year. 'Chancellor Merz's commitment to make necessary changes to German law to disrupt the supply lines of the dangerous vessels which carry illegal migrants across the Channel is hugely welcome,' Starmer said, calling the U.K. and Germany 'the closest of allies.' Germany and the U.K. – Europe's largest and second-largest economies – are also expected to announce a series of investment deals. The treaty builds on a defense pact the U.K. and Germany, two of the biggest European supporters of Ukraine, signed last year pledging closer co-operation against a growing threat from Russia. It includes a promise to come to one another's aid in case of attack. The two leaders also are expected to agree Thursday to joint export campaigns for jointly produced equipment such as Boxer armored vehicles and Typhoon jets, and to develop a deep precision strike missile in the next decade. Starmer has worked to improve relations with Britain's neighbors, strained by the U.K.'s acrimonious departure from the European Union in 2020. He has sought to rebuild ties strained by years of ill-tempered wrangling over Brexit terms. He has ruled out rejoining the 27-nation bloc's single market or customs union, and has been cool to the idea of a youth mobility agreement with the EU, but has sought to reduce trade barriers and to strengthen defense cooperation. 'I make no secret of the fact I very much regret to this day that Britain left the European Union,' Merz told the German parliament last week. 'But if they at least work together with us again in the area of foreign and security policy, then that is a very good sign. Prime Minister Keir Starmer wants that.' ___ Moulson reported from Berlin.
