German industry warns no-deal Brexit will create disaster
Germany’s main alliance of industrial groups has warned that there would be disastrous consequences for both European Union and Britain if the two separate without an agreement to outline their future relations.
Head of the BDI German Federation of Industry Dieter Kempf said on Saturday that if Britain crashes out of the EU in March without an agreement that could guarantee a smooth Brexit, companies and workers in the United Kingdom and across Europe will definitely suffer.
“It would cause great difficulty for tens of thousands of companies and hundreds of thousands of workers on both sides of the English Channel,” Kempf told Funke Mediengruppe newspaper, adding, “A hard Brexit would be disastrous.”
The German industrialist figure said Berlin and other European capitals should be ready for a no-deal scenario as uncertainty grows over whether London and Brussels could finally agree on a deal this month that could detail their future ties.
He called on members of the British parliament to approve a draft Brexit deal that British Prime Minister Theresa May hopes could be finalized in an EU summit later this month. Kampf reiterated that there was less chance May could change the terms of the draft deal in the days remaining until the summit on November 25.
“The ball is in London’s court ... New negotiations are not the answer,” said Kampf, adding “I appeal to the lawmakers in the British parliament to be conscious of their responsibility,”
May hopes she could convince the EU to change some terms of the Brexit deal so that she could win over a divided British parliament after the EU summit. Among those terms is whether the two sides could extend a two-year transition period ending in December 2020.
Extra £10 billion pounds
The EU said Saturday night that if London wants to extend the so-called implementation period, that should last at least a further year and Britain should pay an extra 10 billion pounds on top of the £39bn divorce bill already agreed.
Both senior members of May’s Conservative Party and the opposition Labour Party have vowed that they will vote down the Brexit deal once it comes to the parliament for approval. Pro-Brexit lawmakers say the deal will harm Britain’s interest for many years while the pro-EU camp believes the deal will deprive Britain of the normal privileges of EU membership.
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