This week marks the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi-Germany and the end of the Second World war in Europe. In the years that followed, large parts of the continent were fortunate to build a prosperous and peaceful future. Key ingredients for this recipe of success, were efforts to develop personal friendships and to increase economic and political cooperation across borders. In this spirit, we are looking forward to a successful EU-UK summit later this month, as current geopolitical challenges make a closer cooperation even more of a necessity. Encouragingly, there is goodwill from both sides to reset the EU-UK relationship. In addition to bolstering defence and security cooperation, we hope to see progress on improving youth mobility, reducing trade frictions, and furthering industrial and energy cooperation.
The German parliament has elected a new government this week. Remaining in the spotlight, Germany should now take a more active role in shaping closer linkages in Europe. However, to do so effectively, Germany must first get its own house in order and, like many other countries, urgently initiate a growth agenda. Significantly higher economic growth is a necessity to avoid Europe falling further behind economically and politically. As trade is the foundation for growth, we are happy to report that, according to our recent spring survey, our community continues to perform well from a business perspective. The forthcoming bilateral treaty between the UK and German may also provide further platforms for the creation of economic ties across the Channel and the Chamber, with its wide range of services, will work hard to support companies to seize these new opportunities.
Dr Ulrich Hoppe
Director General
German-British Chamber of Industry & Commerce
