Merkel hints on Brexit economic pain before Johnson visit
Wed Aug 21, 2019 02:23:pm World
4.8K By Afam Jude Offor
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Wednesday of the economic impact of a chaotic no-deal Brexit, hours before she was to receive British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on his first foreign visit.
The economic sky is not cloudless", and global tensions and Britain's impending departure from the European Union "are already causing us headaches", Merkel told an aviation industry conference. That's why I will talk with the British prime minister, who is visiting me today, about how we can avoid friction as much as possible as Britain exits the EU because we have to struggle to achieve economic growth," the leader of the bloc's biggest economy added. Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert stressed that an orderly Brexit would be "in every respect preferable" to a disorderly withdrawal of Britain, but that Germany was also preparing for the worst-case scenario. Johnson, in a "do-or-die" gamble, has insisted Britain will leave the EU on October 31, no matter whether it has ironed out remaining differences with the bloc or not, at the risk of economic turmoil. He is seeking to convince Merkel, and then French President Emmanuel Macron, to renegotiate elements of the UK's impending divorce from the bloc, including the so-called Ireland backstop plan -- something the EU leaders have already ruled out. He hopes that the other 27 EU members will blink and make concessions to avoid a no-deal Brexit that would hurt people and companies on both sides of the Channel. Ahead of his Berlin visit, Johnson reaffirmed in a tweet that "we're going to leave the EU on October 31st and make this country the best in the world to live in", the message adorned with a Union Jack flag.
The economic sky is not cloudless", and global tensions and Britain's impending departure from the European Union "are already causing us headaches", Merkel told an aviation industry conference. That's why I will talk with the British prime minister, who is visiting me today, about how we can avoid friction as much as possible as Britain exits the EU because we have to struggle to achieve economic growth," the leader of the bloc's biggest economy added. Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert stressed that an orderly Brexit would be "in every respect preferable" to a disorderly withdrawal of Britain, but that Germany was also preparing for the worst-case scenario. Johnson, in a "do-or-die" gamble, has insisted Britain will leave the EU on October 31, no matter whether it has ironed out remaining differences with the bloc or not, at the risk of economic turmoil. He is seeking to convince Merkel, and then French President Emmanuel Macron, to renegotiate elements of the UK's impending divorce from the bloc, including the so-called Ireland backstop plan -- something the EU leaders have already ruled out. He hopes that the other 27 EU members will blink and make concessions to avoid a no-deal Brexit that would hurt people and companies on both sides of the Channel. Ahead of his Berlin visit, Johnson reaffirmed in a tweet that "we're going to leave the EU on October 31st and make this country the best in the world to live in", the message adorned with a Union Jack flag.
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