Like its liberty, free trade, economic independence……
Germany fears EU to go ‘DOWN THE DRAIN’ if UK ‘keeps the nice things’ after Brexit
EUROPE as we know it could go “down the drain” if Britain’s EU exit is handled badly and other members states decided to follow the UK out of the door, a German politician fears.
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Theresa May is making Brexit her top priority
Economy minister Sigmar Gabriel warned the world now saw Europe as an unstable continent following the shock referendum result in June.
And he urged Brussels not to let Britain “keep the nice things” when it game to negotiating the nation’s withdrawal from the bloc.
He said: “Brexit is bad but it won’t hurt us as much economically as some fear – it’s more of a psychological problem and it’s a huge problem politically.
“If we organise Brexit in the wrong way then we’ll be in deep trouble, so now we need to make sure that we don’t allow Britain to keep the nice things, so to speak, related to Europe while taking no responsibility.”
His comments come a day after former head of the Civil Service Gus O’Donnell said Brexit was not inevitable and it was still possible for the UK to remain a member of a looser union structure.
He said: “It very much depends what happens to public opinion and whether the EU changes before then.
“It might be that the broader, more loosely aligned group, is something that the UK is happy being a member of.”
