Merkel, Kenny want Britain’s May to quickly define EU relations

Berlin, Germany / AFP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said on Tuesday they expected Britain’s new government to quickly define its relationship with the EU after conservative Theresa May becomes PM.
The European Union could not put forward any proposals on the two sides’ future relationship “until it’s clear what the strategy from Britain would be,” said Kenny following talks in Berlin with Merkel.
“In other words, what does Britain want, having made the decision to exit from the EU, and at what stage will a British prime minister trigger Article 50?” he asked, referring to the treaty procedure to leave the Union.
“Would that be a prolonged period — which I would not favour — or would it be after a short time when the new prime minister would have assessed her strategy, having consulted with her parliament and party and defined the strategy that she feels is appropriate?” he added.
Merkel expressed similar hopes for a quick resolution after it became clear that May would succeed David Cameron on Wednesday.
“The United Kingdom will need to quickly clarify how it wants its ties with the European Union to be in future,” she told diplomats late Monday ahead of the talks with Kenny on Tuesday. Merkel reiterated that it was now up to London to formally trigger Article 50 to leave the EU following last month’s shock referendum backing a “Brexit” or British exit from the Union.
Only then could negotiations on any future relationship between Britain and the EU begin, she added.
She also underlined that Britain’s access to the EU’s single market depended on respect for key principles including the freedom of movement of EU citizens — a point that Kenny likewise stressed. May has said immigration controls would have to be included in any deal for Britain to access the EU’s single market.
Underlining the political repercussions of the Brexit vote for his country, Kenny pointed to the Good Friday peace agreement in 1998 that put an end to three decades of fighting between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.
“We have a situation in the North where the executive and assembly are now functioning very effectively. We work as a government in Ireland with the executive in Northern Ireland on a very regular basis,” Kenny noted, adding that “it’s a fragile entity that cannot be taken for granted”.