The Free State office in London, which had been planned for some time, has started operations. As the State Chancellery announced on Tuesday, there is “a central point of contact for all actors in Bavarian-British cooperation”. This quasi-embassy, located in a co-working space in the heart of London, is headed by the lawyer Anna Schennach. An important task is to promote economic exchange between Bavaria and Great Britain after Brexit. The office will serve as the first point of contact in the UK for Bavarian companies that want to invest in England and for British companies that are planning to do so in Bavaria. “With a trade volume of over eleven billion euros, the United Kingdom is an important trading partner for Bavaria,” it said. But the office will also continue to deepen relationships in other fields such as science and innovation, education, youth exchanges and culture.
Bavaria has dozens of representative offices around the world, most of which are the responsibility of the Ministry of Economics, but some are directly part of the State Chancellery; so far, for example in Prague or Québec. The first political course for the London location was set in the 2019 cabinet. In January 2020, on the occasion of the Brexit agreement, Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) promised the opening in London before the summer of the year. After that there were delays, the reason being the pandemic. In the opposition, some also sensed that the topic was being dragged on and expressed criticism.
“With a comprehensive Bavarian-British agenda, we will continue to fill our good relations with life in many areas,” announced Söder. The British Consul General in Bavaria, Simon Kendall, praised the commitment: “We are extremely pleased that Bavaria is opening a new representative office in London, which has not existed in the United Kingdom since the 19th century.” At that time, Bavaria was still a kingdom. Kendall pointed to the need for collaboration in light of “the rapid development of new technologies and major global challenges”.