On January 1, 2021, the United Kingdom left the EU. Since then, relations between Germany and the United Kingdom have changed significantly, which also has an impact on municipal relations between the two countries. Economic cooperation became more difficult, funding programs for municipal and university exchanges are no longer available - there are more hurdles for cooperation at municipal level.

Brexit is a key reason to intensify municipal partnerships.

Against the background of Brexit, many cities in Germany have expressly declared their willingness to intensify cooperation with cities in the United Kingdom and to contribute their expertise to shaping future relationships. This potential should be included in the exchange. There are around 420 town twinning agreements between municipalities in Germany and the United Kingdom. The first town twinnings were established in 1947.

The 2030 Agenda and in particular the topic of sustainable urban development are also ideal for the exchange of expertise for the German-British partnerships: For example, the municipalities of Lünen and Salford are already exchanging views on structural change, Heidelberg and Cambridge on urban planning and climate protection and Oldenburg and Kingston upon Thames to localize the 2030 Agenda. Other conceivable topics for a professional exchange with British cities are, for example: combating homelessness, migration and integration, vaccination strategy or digitization and debureaucratization as well as challenges and opportunities for cooperation after Brexit.