HCW's statements can possibly seen, as if the PJ seems to be more convinced of the german investigations, than they maybe have been in the past. Maybe some evidence has been shared.
The question could be, why it is still taking so long. Maybe because of the quoted "formalistic legal assistance". I would like to assume, that german prosecutors just can't fly to portugal and maybe dig up portugese ground without permission of portugese authorities?!
I just don't know...
Yes - German authorities have no jurisdiction in Portugal, so they have to request things. Especially that means PJ has to allocate resources to handling the requests. I expect a small team has been assigned to this.
Remember this trouble arose in the original investigation. PJ wanted to reinterview all the tapas witnesses, but could not do so as they refused to return (on legal advice). So it was necessary to request UK police to do the interviewed based on questions submitted by PJ - the so called rogatory interviews
That is why those interviews are so unsatisfactory. Follow up questions that should have been asked were not asked
One suspects after the Met's fiasco of searching the locality some years back, PJ will not be that keen for german cops digging up stuff all over again in a another potentially fruitless media circus
One wonders if work is taking place more out of the public eye!