Merkel warns UK it can’t dictate Brexit terms to EU

Bloomberg

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned the UK it can’t set unilateral terms for leaving the European Union as Prime Minister Theresa May heads to Brussels to try to complete a contentious Brexit deal.
Addressing lower-house lawmakers in Berlin, Merkel gave short shrift to Brexit while rattling off domestic achievements, pleading for stronger bonds between EU nations and criticising go-it-alone policies as false patriotism. Her message to the UK reflected Merkel’s opposition to renegotiating the draft Brexit accord and the risk of last-minute obstacles ahead of an EU summit on Sunday.
Still pending are reservations by Spain about the future status of Gibraltar and “I can’t say how we’ll resolve it,” Merkel said in her speech.
“We also know how difficult the debate in Britain is,” she said. “What’s been important to us is that Britain can’t decide unilaterally when it ends the customs union, but rather has to define that timeframe jointly with the EU.”
It was Merkel’s third such warning within a week to May, who’s caught between colleagues who want her to rewrite the deal and EU leaders who say they’ll walk away if she does. On Tuesday, Merkel and her deputy chancellor, Olaf Scholz, both made it clear there’s no wiggle room on the Brexit draft that’s on the table.
“The German government doesn’t see any need for new negotiations or renegotiation,” Ulrike Demmer, a government spokeswoman, told reporters.
Alongside the exit conditions, work is still being done on the future relationship between the UK and the EU, Merkel said.
“Both documents have to be finalised by Sunday so that we can sign the exit agreement, and accept the statement on the future relationship,” she told lawmakers. In a pointed rebuttal to Brexit supporters, she said the EU’s free movement of workers “has given us prosperity, not just to Germany but also to other countries.”
With Britain about to cut itself loose from the EU and President Donald Trump pursuing his “America First” agenda, Merkel devoted her speech to pleas for multilateral solutions, including on migration.

May heads to Brussels for Brexit talks
Bloomberg

Theresa May is heading to Brussels for Brexit talks, trapped between her colleagues who want her to re-write the deal and European leaders who say they’ll walk away if she does.
The prime minister will travel to meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in an effort to make progress on an outline of the future trade deal the two sides want to strike.
She wants EU leaders to sign off on the 585-page exit agreement as well
as the future partnership paper at a special summit in Brussels on Sunday.