London: Standing in the Victoria and Albert Museum (V and A), draped in the national flags of both nations, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, on Thursday signed a wide-ranging bilateral agreement covering areas such as defense and migration. The summit followed on the heels of French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit last week. Together, these developments mark a quiet but significant revival of the trilateral group known as the E3, comprising the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, amid mounting global turbulence.
According to Ghana News Agency, originally formed as an ad hoc coalition focused on Iran’s nuclear program, the E3 is now re-emerging as a core pillar of European security diplomacy. As British think tank Chatham House noted on Friday, the group is ‘back at the heart of European security.’
To many observers, this shift signals a new strategic direction under the Labour government, as Starmer seeks to stabilise and rebuild once-fractured ties between Britain and the European Union (EU) in the aftermath of Brexit.