Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
German chancellor, Angela Merkel
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, arrives on the second day of the European council meeting in Brussels. Photograph: Stephanie Lecocq/EPA
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, arrives on the second day of the European council meeting in Brussels. Photograph: Stephanie Lecocq/EPA

Brexit trade talks will be more complicated than first phase, says Merkel

This article is more than 6 years old

German chancellor upbeat on progress of divorce talks but cautions that next stage of negotiations will be ‘a bit more difficult’

The next phase of Brexit negotiations on trade will “undeniably” be more complicated than the divorce talks, Angela Merkel has said as the European Union prepares to discuss its future with the UK.

Speaking after Theresa May called on EU leaders to help her strike a Brexit deal she could sell to British voters, the German chancellor gave an upbeat report on the state of talks, while noting the challenges ahead.

“I don’t have any reason to believe we are not going to be successful,” she told reporters. The divorce talks, which are focused on the financial settlement, EU citizens’ rights and the Irish border, “may take a bit longer than we thought in the beginning, [but] it doesn’t mean, we are not working hard to reach the second stage, which is undeniably going to be more complicated than the first stage”.

The EU would find it a bit more difficult to formulate a mandate to guide those talks, she said. The difficulty for the bloc is how to protect the integrity of its single market, while avoiding damage to its economic interests.

“The ball is not only in Great Britain’s court, it is also in our court at the same time because we are about to enter the phase where we have to put into language, into words, what a non-sufficient adherence to the rules of the single market is,” Merkel said. “Great Britain has not been very clear about the details of that relationship. The European Union 27 may have certain ideas, but we haven’t put it down into clear terms.”

EU negotiators have welcomed May’s concessions on the EU budget and European court of justice, but believe she has not moved beyond the “have your cake and eat it” philosophy on trade links.

Senior officials say the British government has not recognised that leaving the web of EU rules and courts to “take back control”, will mean British firms have less access to the EU single market.

One senior source told the Guardian: “To me it is very binary: the more sovereignty, the lower the market access and vice versa. The UK will want to match [current] market access but we will not want to offer it.”

The debate on future trade ties will test the unity of the EU27, where economic interests diverge. Countries such as Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium risk a bigger hit to their economic growth in the event of a hard Brexit.

EU leaders are expected to launch internal talks on trade at Friday’s meeting, with officials promising that the EU will be ready to negotiate with the UK after more progress has been made on the Brexit bill.

Merkel said: “We have to say, what are the conclusions we are drawing [for] that kind of partnership or [another] kind of partnership?”

May will leave the EU summit, allowing the other 27 leaders to discuss their Brexit plans without her. On Thursday night, the prime minister made her five-minute Brexit pitch to EU leaders over coffee, after a dinner dedicated to foreign policy issues, including Iran, North Korea and Turkey.

Merkel revealed she had been talking about the Iran nuclear deal with May and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, when the three were photographed in the summit room deep in conversation.

Photograph: BBC

Most viewed

Most viewed