Great Britain

Political framework for scientific and technological collaboration

The bilateral cooperation between the two countries is very intensive. Regular German-British consultation talks are held at government and working level. Every year, a broad spectrum of political issues is discussed at numerous bilateral meetings, in particular in talks between the German Federal Chancellor and the British Prime Minister. Many German-British meetings also take place in Brussels and in the capitals of other EU member states. A Cultural Convention between the Federal Republic of Germany and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland came into force in April 1959. 

Highlights of bilateral cooperation

The presentation of the German federal government's high-tech strategy for climate protection in London in autumn 2007 gave an important signal for consolidating German-British relations with regard to applied climate and energy policy.

The intensification of German-British cooperation in research and innovation was underlined in the speech by Minister of State Lord Drayson at the high-tech strategy conference "Woher das neue Wachstum kommt" in Berlin on 6th May 2009.  

The annual conferences of the German-British Forum (GBF) are also worthy of mention. In 2008, this event took place in Germany for the first time and focused on the theme of "European Monetary Policy and World Capital Markets". In October 2009, the 14th GBF Annual Conference turned the spotlight on energy issues with the theme of  "Energy for the Future – Governments, Cities and Technologies for the New Age". In 2010, the conference was held in Wilton Park, South England. That year's focus was "Rebalancing the State through the Century`s Teenage Years".  

The German-British exchange program for trainees entitled "Training Bridge", funded jointly by the German BMBF and the British Department for Schools, Children and Families (DCSF), celebrated its 10th anniversary in June 2009. The successful cooperation between InWEnt (Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung gGmbH) and the British Council supports the development of exchange partnerships between German and British institutions for vocational training.  

Great Britain and Germany also work closely together in the EU and other international organisations. Along with Great Britain and other EU member states, the International Bureau of the BMBF participated on behalf of and in close consultation with the BMBF in the working group entitled "Internationalisation of R&D – Facing the Challenge of Globalisation: Approaches to a Proactive International Policy in S&T" of the EU Scientific and Technical Research Committee (CREST), of which it held the chair. The report on this was submitted in April 2009: http://ec.europa.eu/research/iscp/pdf/crest.pdf. Results and recommendations from this working group led to the establishment of the EU Strategic Forum for International S&T Cooperation, SFIC, chaired by Germany (through the BMBF), in which the 27 EU member states participate. Within the framework of this new forum, Great Britain coordinates the working group for internal provision and obtaining of information.  

Germany and Great Britain also cooperate within European network projects. For example, the British Council and the International Bureau of the BMBF participate together, along with a further 26 partners, in the INCO-Net MIRA, which is coordinated by Spain and focuses on research and innovation cooperation with the Mediterranean region.
The Association of Commonwealth Universities (AU-ACU) oversees the INCO-Net CAAST-Net, which handles coordination and funding of scientific and technological cooperation with countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The International Bureau participates on behalf of the BMBF in this strategic dialogue process in which a further 16 partners are involved.
The British High Commission Singapore and the think tank DEMOS are partners in the INCO-Net SEA-EU-NET, which is coordinated by the IB of the BMBF. This aims to strengthen bi-regional policy dialogue on research and technology between the EU and the ASEAN countries.
The ERA-Net CO-REACH, which targets China, is also coordinated by the IB with the participation of both the British Academy and the Royal Society.
The IB also coordinates the ERA-Net with South Korea, KORANET. Partners include the British Council.
The EU project AOUDA coordinated by the French CNRS, in which partners such as the Royal Society and the IB dealt with expanding cooperation between the EU and India, is already concluded.