This paper provides details and links for ministerial statements and parliamentary debates (from both Houses of Parliament) that cover international affairs and defence.
Documents to download
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UK withdrawal from Germany: the end of an era (99 KB, PDF)
British forces have been permanently stationed in Germany since 1945. The Government announced in 2010 as part of its Strategic Defence and Security Review that all the forces will be withdrawn by 2020. The Government argued that “there is no longer any operational requirement for UK forces to be based there, and the current arrangements impose financial costs on the UK, disruption on personnel and their families and opportunity costs in terms of wider Army coherence.” It means that the Army will be almost completely UK-based for the first time in decades.
Approximately 15,000 service personnel are currently based in Germany, down from 20,000 at the time of the SDSR. The vast majority will return to the UK by the end of 2016.
Under the NATO status of Forces Supplementary Agreement the UK is obliged to pay reinstatement costs to the German Federal government, although the exact nature of those residual costs has yet to be determined.
This note provides a short overview of the withdrawal plans.
Documents to download
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UK withdrawal from Germany: the end of an era (99 KB, PDF)
Related posts
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After nearly two years of negotiation, on 5 November 2020 the EU agreed the rules on third state participation in its defence capability development initiative: PESCO. Post Brexit, those rules will now apply to the UK, or any UK-based company, that expresses a desire to be involved in a specific PESCO capability project.
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A look ahead to the UK Government's integrated review of security, defence and foreign policy.
