Chancellor Merkel met PM Theresa May in Berlin, warned on Brexit
- Angela Merkel warned Theresa May that time is running out for Brexit negotiations as the two leaders met for crunch talks in Berlin this afternoon
Downing Street said Theresa May and Angela Merkel had “constructive” talks about Brexit in Berlin and the cabinet’s discussions at Chequers would decide a “substantial way forward which would enable the pace and intensity of negotiations to increase”.
Time is pressing in Britain’s negotiations with the European Union on its departure from the bloc, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday before talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May.
Meanwhile, Brexiteer ministers including Boris Johnson, David Davis, Michael Gove, Liam Fox and Esther McVey were holding talks on Thursday evening, ahead of the meeting on Friday.
UK cabinet meeting on Friday
The two leaders’ meeting came as Downing Street set out some of the detail of its new proposal for how trade between the UK and the EU could be handled after Brexit.
There are differing views within the cabinet about how closely the UK should stick to EU rules after Brexit, and what compromises should be made to achieve “as frictionless as possible” trade.
After months of tension and disagreement, the Prime Minister is gathering the entire cabinet at her country retreat, Chequers, with the aim of agreeing on a UK proposal on how future relations with the EU will work.
That would then be the subject of negotiations with the EU – which might have different ideas.
The UK is due to leave the European Union at 23:00 GMT on 29 March 2019. But to allow time for parliaments in the UK and the EU to approve whatever deal is agreed, the aim is for the framework for future relations to be agreed by this autumn.
Source: BBC, Reuters The Kootneeti Europe Team