There is “no question” of renegotiating the super-soft Brexit deal agreed with Theresa May, Angela Merkel has warned, as Eurocrats voiced hope that the divorce could be called off altogether.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting in Potsdam, the German Chancellor said: “We have a document on the table that Britain and the remaining 27 EU states have agreed. There is, as far as I am concerned, no question of further bargaining at present.”
With German industry bodies set to be hit particularly hard in the event of a no-deal Brexit, Merkel stated this would be the “worst and most chaotic scenario”, but signalled there would be no room for compromise with Britain.
The veteran EU leader’s insistence that there could be no concessions came after the chancellor was branded “stubborn” and “unhelpful” over her attitude to Brexit by Alternative for Germany (AfD) MP Petr Bystron.
As Breitbart London reported Thursday, the populist party’s foreign policy spokesman argued that Merkel’s “refus[al] to negotiate constructively with the British government”, with her stating there could be “no cherry-picking” played a large role in the problems currently plaguing talks.
“You have to suspect the idea was to punish the British people for wanting to leave the EU superstate and thereby deter any other members from following the UK in their wish to regain their national sovereignty,” commented Bystron.
‘We Fought for This for Many Years’: Brussels Eurocrats ‘Delighted’ at Merkel Support for EU Army https://t.co/UxMTqCfB6K
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) November 15, 2018
Although the 500-page agreement is so concessions-laden that its release on Wednesday night prompted a wave of ministerial resignations, with Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg asserting the Prime Minister “hasn’t so much struck a deal as surrendered to Brussels, and given in to them on everything that they want”, some governments in Europe voiced fears the deal could be too soft towards British interests.
France, Spain, Denmark, and the Netherlands have expressed concern that too much ground has been conceded to the UK under the agreement, according to The Guardian.
On Friday, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire launched an attack on “lying and irresponsible” pro-Brexit MPs in Britain, demanding they either agree to stay in the EU or else accept they would be leading Britain into “a nightmare”.
Asserting that leaving the Single Market has to have an “exorbitant cost”, the Europhile government minister told an event on global trade in Paris: “The British politicians, who have argued for Brexit, now have a choice between reneging on their absurd political promise or an economic disaster of which the British people will be the first victim.”
The Telegraph reports that, behind the scenes, officials in Brussels “were clear that the deal was a very poor second to membership of the bloc”, and that they were hoping that Brexit could be cancelled entirely.
“Since the very beginning we have had no doubt that Brexit is a lose-lose situation and that our negotiations are about damage control,” stated European Council President Donald Tusk, declaring that — ideally — the bloc would like to see a “no-Brexit scenario” as the outcome of talks.
EU Council Prez: ‘Brownshirt’ Populists a ‘Fundamental Threat’ to Europe https://t.co/kpf66LtvbK
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) November 12, 2018
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