Boris Johnson should make Angela Merkel an offer she cannot refuse
(Photo by Omer Messinger/Getty Images)
Now that the brouhaha over Brexit has been put into proportion by a global pandemic, it is time for two of the most interdependent neighbours in Europe to mend their fences. The British and the Germans are culturally similar; each is vital to the prosperity of the other; and apart from the first half of the 20th century, we have usually been natural allies. Germany is now the larger economy , but at some point in the next few decades, Britain’s population will overtake Germany’s. We have far more in common than we know.
Hence it should be a matter of the utmost urgency for the British Prime Minister to meet the German Chancellor next month to thrash out the details of the Brexit agreement that is due to be concluded by the end of this year. The fact that Germany now holds the presidency of the Council of Ministers underlines the importance of such a rapprochement. A cordial personal relationship at the top has never been more important than it is just now.
How should Boris Johnson approach Angela Merkel? For a start, he can forget everything he may think he knows about women. This lady’s head is not for turning. The doctor will see him now, but only on her terms. That means going to Berlin with a hand-picked delegation who know Germany.
Michael Gove must be part of that team. He is a regular at the Bayreuth Festival, as is Mrs Merkel. Johnson should present her with copies of the late Sir Roger Scruton’s trilogy of books on Wagner, the last volume of which appeared posthumously. It would be a fine gesture to a great philosopher, but the tradition of British Germanophilia has not died with him. Also in the delegation should be Greg Hands, the trade minister, who loves the Germans so much that he married one, and Neil MacGregor OM, the former director of the British Museum and the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, who knows Mrs Merkel well. All three — Gove, Hands and MacGregor — can help to fill the doubtless considerable gaps in prime ministerial knowledge.
Knowledge, indeed, is at the heart of the Anglo-German relationship now. Both nations excel in science and Mrs Merkel is a scientist. Boris should be banging the drum for the achievements of British biomedical research on Covid-19 and beyond. Germany is home to several of the most powerful players in the pharmaceutical industry and Britain has much to offer them. The same applies to many other fields where science and entrepreneurship form a creative nexus, from green technology to social media. The aim should be to remind the Chancellor that, to compete with America and China, Germany and the UK need to make a combined effort in cutting -edge technology. Neither country wants to become Europe ’ s rust belt, but Germany, with its dominant car industry, is at greater risk of doing so.
When Boris and Angela are alone together — “unter uns” as Germans say — he should also emphasise that his vision for reuniting the disunited kingdom he leads depends on harnessing the German genius for getting things done and done well. Whether it is German prowess in engineering, their system of technical education and apprenticeships, or the cultural excellence of provincial towns and cities, the Brits have a great deal to learn from their cousins across the North Sea. In particular, Mrs Merkel has been in the forefront of the titanic effort to integrate the former East Germany into the Federal Republic over the past forty years. The mutual tensions between North and South, the English and the Scots, are no less toxic than those between East and West in Germany.
Why doesn’t Prime Minister Johnson propose to Chancellor Merkel that the two countries set up a permanent institutional apparatus to foster mutual co-operation, understanding and respect? A combination of political think tank, cultural forum and commercial hub, it should have branches in London and Berlin. The Shakespeare Centre (or, in Berlin, Shakespeare Zentrum) has a nice ring to it, given that the Bard has always been just as revered in Germany as in England. The two governments would provide accommodation and seedcorn funding, but long-term support should come mainly from the many wealthy private foundations in both countries.
Angela Merkel is one of the greatest leaders Germany — or Europe — has ever had. At 66, she is now coming to the end of her career as Chancellor and looking to the future. A decade younger, Boris Johnson still has a great deal to prove — especially in Germany, where the media has not taken him seriously so far. If he can offer her not only an olive branch, but a credible plan to rebuild our relations on a new basis, why wouldn’t she take him up on it? True, Mrs Merkel was disappointed in David Cameron; her expectations of his nemesis are more realistic. She has nothing to lose, though, by exploring a British offer to reset the bilateral relationship. Johnson has nothing to lose, either, by giving Mrs Merkel a chance to enhance her already formidable legacy. Above all, both peoples have a great deal to gain from a new era of Anglo-German amity. It is time for Boris to make Angela an offer she cannot reasonably refuse.
