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Germany's Merkel takes tough line on Brexit: 'The decision has been made'
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has saidshe expects the U.K. to kick off its European Union (EU) exit negotiations assoon as a new prime minister is in place and that there would be no turningback from the decision to leave the bloc.
Speaking to national broadcaster ZDF at theweekend, Merkel warned that Britain would have to accept the good with the badin its future relationship with the union and reiterated that there would be no"cherry picking" with the U.K. able to pick and choose which aspectsof EU life it wanted to keep.
"The decision (of Britons to leave theEU) has been taken … and the next step is – and Britain will do this only whenthey have a new prime minister – to invoke Article 50," she told publicbroadcaster ZDF on Sunday, Reuters reported.
"I expect that to happen. I deal withreality and I firmly expect that application will be made," Merkel addedwhen asked if she thought there was a chance that Brexit would not happen.
As leader of Europe's most powerful nationGermany, Merkel is expected to be influential over the tone of talks withBritain when its negotiations over a Brexit take place. U.K. Prime MinisterDavid Cameron resigned following the June 23 referendum when 52 percent ofvoters opted to leave the economic and political bloc.
The vote caused turmoil in financialmarkets as well as the U.K.'s political establishment with a leadership racenow underway to find the next leader of the ruling Conservative party and nextprime minister. Two women are in the running for the position, Home SecretaryTheresa May and Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom, and whoever wins will have thedifficult task of overseeing potentially awkward Brexit talks.
Problematically, the U.K. would like tomaintain its lucrative access to the EU's single market and 500 millionconsumers but to do so must accept the EU's founding principles, known as the"four freedoms," that guarantee the free movement of goods, capital,services, and people. The latter freedom is a sore point for a portion of thepopulation who voted for Brexit in order to limit immigration, however.
There is also the so-called "Norwayoption." Norway is not a member of the EU but is a member of the EuropeanEconomic Area (EEA) which gives it access to the single market. Norwegian PrimeMinister Erna Solberg told CNBC that Norway has had to accept the EU's rules,however.
"I think the Norway option is the bestfor Norway," Solberg told CNBC on the sidelines of the NATO summit overthe weekend.
"And I think for small countries it isa good agreement. I doubt that those who were arguing for leave will besatisfied with the fact that we have the four freedoms - we are, we are fullymembers of Schengen (a passport-free movement agreement), and we are in fact insome areas more integrated with the EU structures than Britain was before,especially on the Schengen part. But I think it's up to the Brits to decidewhat they want to opt for, what is the core elements that they would like toparticipate with, continue to work with the EU?," she said.
"If you want freedom of trade andservices, people are moving with the services," she noted. "It mightbe possible to have an arrangement where you can access parts of that market,but can you have it all? I think it's going to be difficult especially on theservices side which Britain is big on. It's a big country when deliveringservices. But that's up to the Brits to decide what they want and of course thenegotiation with the EU."
Merkel's tough tone with the U.K. hasraised eyebrows over how the U.K. will be treated by EU leaders when talks takeplace. Some have called for an example to be made of the U.K. – that is, to notgive the U.K. too good a post-EU membership deal – lest it encourages othercountries to follow suit with their own EU referendums.
EU leaders are well aware of a rising tideof Euroskeptic sentiment and want to deter other anti-establishment, anti-EUpolitical movements.
The foreign minister of Finland, TimoSoini, told CNBC that despite some "loud words" over the U.K.'s exit,there shouldn't be ill will towards the country.
"My view is that there shouldn't beill will and definitely not revenge (towards the U.K.) because we need eachother. The U.K. needs Europe, the European Union, and we need them. Together weare stronger but this is something which is now is a fact of life and we mustact accordingly," he told CNBC on the sidelines of the NATO summit lastweek.
"I personally think it would be wiseto do it (in) a way that nobody is going to get hurt - that everybody benefits… If there is a will, there is a way," Soini added.
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