BORIS Johnson and Angela Merkel are holding press conference this afternoon – before she goes on to meet the Queen.
The PM and German Chancellor have had a bi-lateral meeting at Chequers this morning, before addressing Cabinet ministers.
I’m looking forward to meeting Angela Merkel later today.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 2, 2021
The UK and Germany have a steadfast friendship, and over the last 16 years of her tenure as Chancellor it has been re-energised and re-invigorated for a new era.
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The German leader is on the cusp of climbing down from demands for mandatory EU-wide quarantine after she was snubbed by tourism hotspots.
The pair will discuss holidays and restrictions for travellers after she tried to get EU nations to force Brits to quarantine.
But several states said they would set their own rules and ignored her calls.
She has met the PM at his country house of Chequers, with the pair set to hold a joint press conference in the early afternoon.
The visit will be her 22nd to Britain and her last as Chancellor after 16 years at the helm in Berlin.
Ahead of the talks both sides agreed to rebuild relations which have been strained by five years of Brexit tensions.
In a major olive branch on the eve of the meeting Mrs Merkel announced she’s set to ease travel curbs on Brits entering Germany.
The UK will be downgraded from a “virus area of concern” – the highest bracket of restrictions – to one of “high incidence”.
That will cut the mandatory quarantine visitors from the UK have to observe from two weeks to as little as five days.
Health minister Jens Spahn said it is also a recognition the Delta variant is now almost as widespread in Germany as it is in the UK.
Ahead of her visit the PM said: “The UK and Germany have a steadfast friendship and a shared outlook on many issues.
“Our scientists, innovators and industrialists work together every day to make the world a better place.
“Over the 16 years of Chancellor Merkel’s tenure the UK-Germany relationship has been re-energised and re-invigorated for a new era.
“And the new joint ventures we will agree today will leave a legacy that will last for generations.”
She will address a meeting of the Cabinet, becoming the first foreign leader to do so since US President Bill Clinton in 1997.
