“Great Britain will remain a close partner,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday in Potsdam, outside Berlin.
“It shouldn’t take ages” for Britain to deliver formal notification that it wants to leave the European Union, “but I would not fight now for a short time frame,” she stated, seeking to temper pressure from Brussels, Paris and her own government to force Britain into negotiating a quick divorce from the EU.
Britain would remain a full-fledged member of the European Union until the negotiations were completed – with all the rights and responsibilities, she added.
“We will conduct the necessary negotiations in the spirit of our future partnership,” Merkel said.
….
The newspaper Handelsblatt quoted an internal document from the Ministry of Finance in Berlin regarding Germany’s strategy in the case of a Brexit. Britain would be offered “constructive negotiations,” Handelsblatt wrote, underlining that the members of Wolfgang Schäuble’s ministry were expecting a “difficult” divorce.
According to the document, the objective could be an association agreement between the EU and the UK. An association treaty spells out trading rules and other regulations between the European Union and a non-EU country. Other reports suggested any such agreement would not cover financial services.
“According to the document, the objective could be an association agreement between the EU and the UK. An association treaty spells out trading rules and other regulations between the European Union and a non-EU country. Other reports suggested any such agreement would not cover financial services”
Germany is not a friendly power for Britain; it does however have some common sense and Merkel has reined in the wilder comments of the EU Bureaucrats Juncker and his chums. Germany wants a continuing relationship and a deal with Britain.
This leaked document does show what the cunning German plan is: to try to freeze Britain out of the financial services area ‘passport’ so that banks relocate to Frankfurt, but to have a trade deal with allows Germany to sell BMW’s to the UK. Well they can dream on.
For those banks in the UK inclined to go to Frankfurt, they should remember that it is the UK which has protected them from the attacks coming from the EU, the latest of which was a proposal for a withholding tax.
There is no hurry – we should give notice on intention to leave when we have our ducks lined up: arrangements for alternative trade deals with other countries; an agreement in principal of our future relationship with the EU including for our banking and financial services sector. Germany and France export lots to the UK so we have a strong hand. Bullying from Eurocrats should be ignored.
We also need a strong team for renegotiation in place, and our strategy worked out and our support among EU countries ascertained before giving notice to leave. Europe needs the UK as much as the UK needs access to its common market, and the shenanigans of Juncker trying to limit control of our exit to himself and the original contracting nations is transparently manipulative, as the other countries are more pro UK, most of them relying on us and our military to give some protection with NATO against Putin’s aggression. We need a strong leader who has a program for Brexit and will have the force of personality, experience and stomach to negotiate firmly. The problem at the moment is that Cameron it appears is doing a Gordon Brown – hanging on to influence the succession and for vindictive reasons with his potential successors.
We need to keep our nerve, not be hurried or bullied and be wise.
I hope the strong leader you need will soon take the reins.
Thank you for your prayers, Katherine, and God bless you.
PM
Pageantmaster, may God bless Britain and all her people.