Political relations between Germany and Portugal are marked by a spirit of trust and characterised by numerous mutual visits and broad agreement on issues relating to European and foreign and security policy. Germany was instrumental in helping to build democratic structures in Portugal after the 1974 Carnation Revolution (overthrow of the Salazar/Caetano regime) and supported Portugal’s accession to the European Community, now the EU, in 1986.

The Treaty of Lisbon Amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty Establishing the European Community was signed in Lisbon in 2007 under the Portuguese EU Council Presidency, after being prepared under Germany’s EU Council Presidency among others. With a view to developing common positions and projects, a German-Portuguese Action Plan was agreed in 2019 under the leadership of both Foreign Ministries. A German-Portuguese Forum, which has met annually since 2013 alternately in Berlin and Lisbon, brings together high‑level representatives from the two countries’ political sectors, business and scientific communities and civil society and makes a valuable contribution to mutual understanding. In 2024, the German-Portuguese Forum will take place in Berlin. Cultural institutes and civil society organisations in the two countries have been presenting the German-Portuguese Journalism Award since 2021.

Germany is among Portugal’s most important trading partners, ranking just behind Spain and France and ahead of the UK. Some German companies have been present in the region for over a century. Several well-known major enterprises have had their own production facilities in Portugal for decades, and various medium-sized German enterprises also manufacture in the country. In the industrial sector, they provide the greatest foreign contribution to the GDP and have created a particularly large number of highly skilled jobs. They are among the biggest private investors in the country.