Germany's Merkel does not expect more EU departures after Brexit

[webfact]

Germany's Merkel does not expect more EU departures after Brexit

REUTERS

 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during the opening ceremony of the CeBit computer fair, which will open its doors to the public on March 20, at the fairground in Hanover, Germany, March 19, 2017. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer

 

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel does not fear that more countries will leave the European Union, she told a German newspaper as the bloc's leaders prepare to celebrate 60 years of union on Saturday days before Britain files for divorce.

 

Prime Minister Theresa May will next Wednesday launch a two-year countdown to Brexit.

 

Asked if she feared other countries would quit the bloc, Merkel told the Passauer Neue Presse: "No. Individual member states of course have different ideas about how we shape the future, but the overall way forward is clear: more cooperation."

 

She pointed to defence, control of the EU's external borders, economic policy and the fight against Islamist militancy as areas for cooperation.

 

Merkel said May's impending letter to begin the Brexit process would not overshadow the EU's 60th anniversary summit.

 

"The work for the coming years will go in both directions: On the one hand, the exit negotiations with Britain, and on the other considerations about making the EU of 27 members fit for the future," she added in the interview published on Friday.

 

Asked whether EU accession negotiations with Turkey should be broken off, Merkel replied: "We should await the vote on the referendum in Turkey and everything else."

 

Turkey is planning an April 16 referendum on constitutional changes that would extend President Tayyip Erdogan's powers.

 

Merkel said she took very seriously a European legal report that calls Turkey's proposed constitutional changes a big setback for democracy. Turkey has rejected the report.

 

Turning to relations with the United States, Merkel said she had stressed the extent of German investments there in talks with U.S. President Donald Trump last week.

 

"Trade agreements should bring benefits to both sides, and we need to negotiate on that," she said. "Now we will see whether we can revive negotiations on our TTIP trade and investment agreement."

 

German officials have said the stalled U.S.-European trade deal known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is "on ice" but talks could be rekindled if there is U.S. interest.

 

(Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Alison Williams)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-03-24

[phantomfiddler]

And the Nobel Prize for not having a clue about what is going on around one,s self goes to..............step right up, Angela !

[Grouse]

23 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

And the Nobel Prize for not having a clue about what is going on around one,s self goes to..............step right up, Angela !

Note she's speaking at CeBIT, one of the largest digital electronics shows in the world also known as the Hannover Fair. How many English companies? Wise Guy!

 

As she has a PhD in quantum mechanics I expect she knows exactly her position but not necessarily her velocity!

Edited March 24, 2017 by Grouse

[williamgeorgeallen]

people predict what they hope will happen. 

[pitrevie]

1 hour ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

people predict what they hope will happen. 

Well the Dutch have already decided and Farage had great hopes for them which didn't materialise no chance of them leaving the EU. The French will decide soon and that looks likely to go the way of the pro EU parties which just leaves Germany and even if Merkel isn't Chancellor there isn't much chance of her successor wanting to leave either. So yep its just the UK and I think there will be great rejoicing in the EU Parliament when Farage walks out for the last time and they don't have to listen to his constant message of doom and gloom.

[lungbing]

No more countries will exit the EU (unless it collapses) because the vast majority of them take money out and put nothing in and their political class climb onto the EU gravy train.

[Sydebolle]

Well, she was wrong with those "poor" refugees, 85% - 90% of them turning out to be asylum chancers rather than genuine refugees (latter to be helped as in the past). 

She might be in for another big surprise - Brexit is only the beginning of a free fall from an initially good idea among the eight founding states. 
You cannot start with an idea befitting eight more-or-less comparable countries and economies and add endlessly other states, some coming in from the cold, others clearly a generation behind and expect things to work. 

[daveAustin]

16 hours ago, pitrevie said:

Well the Dutch have already decided and Farage had great hopes for them which didn't materialise no chance of them leaving the EU. The French will decide soon and that looks likely to go the way of the pro EU parties which just leaves Germany and even if Merkel isn't Chancellor there isn't much chance of her successor wanting to leave either. So yep its just the UK and I think there will be great rejoicing in the EU Parliament when Farage walks out for the last time and they don't have to listen to his constant message of doom and gloom.

And the sheep will all go down together! Britain is, and always will be, the only country with any stones, vision and creativity among that lot. The French and Polish are probably the only others that come close (aside from the 'stones' bit on the part of the froggies). If one can't see the disquiet in the EU, one is a little bit jaded methinks.

[pitrevie]

1 minute ago, daveAustin said:

And the sheep will all go down together! Britain is, and always will be, the only country with any stones, vision and creativity among that lot. The French and Polish are probably the only others that come close (aside from the 'stones' bit on the part of the froggies). If one can't see the disquiet in the EU, one is a little bit jaded methinks.

The disquiet in the EU, if you cannot see the disquiet in the UK or USA or name your country for that matter. We will all have to wait and see what happens now the UK has decided to go it alone and withdraw from the single biggest richest market on the planet wont we. What we do know is that when we were going at it alone we were known as the sick man of Europe. Now we are going to trade with all those countries that we could not trade with while we were members of the EU, perhaps you could give me a list of the ones you know. As for the French and Poles I think you might at least have added the Germans whose economic record since WW2 has put us all to shame given that they started from a very low point. 

[pitrevie]

1 hour ago, Sydebolle said:

Well, she was wrong with those "poor" refugees, 85% - 90% of them turning out to be asylum chancers rather than genuine refugees (latter to be helped as in the past). 

She might be in for another big surprise - Brexit is only the beginning of a free fall from an initially good idea among the eight founding states. 
You cannot start with an idea befitting eight more-or-less comparable countries and economies and add endlessly other states, some coming in from the cold, others clearly a generation behind and expect things to work. 

Please read what the architects of the EU project intended. They were quite clear, economic and political union so that Europe would not suffer the devastation that it twice suffered in the 20th century. It was never just about trade something that Brexiters seem eager to push which suggests they never paid much attention in the first place. However wanting to have a vote on any alteration to the aims and structure of the organisation. When it started, it was just iron, coal and steel but that was just the first step.

[Guest]

43 minutes ago, daveAustin said:

And the sheep will all go down together! Britain is, and always will be, the only country with any stones, vision and creativity among that lot. The French and Polish are probably the only others that come close (aside from the 'stones' bit on the part of the froggies). If one can't see the disquiet in the EU, one is a little bit jaded methinks.

LePen's Russian connection and meeting with her financial backer Putin was widely broadcasted yesterday. Connections to today's Russia does not go well with the Europeans.

 

 

[ballpoint]

" We have increased the number of guards, added barbed wire to the fences, taken away the vaulting horse used as cover for the tunnel.  There will be no more escapes from this union!"

[pitrevie]

4 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

" We have increased the number of guards, added barbed wire to the fences, taken away the vaulting horse used as cover for the tunnel.  There will be no more escapes from this union!"

So the democratic votes in Holland, France and Germany don't count then? I guess if Le Pen wins in France the vote will be ignored, or are you preparing the ground if the vote goes against you, a bit like Trump. I seem to recall also that when the UK voted Brexit that EU leaders unanimously said they accepted the vote of the British people and wished them to leave as soon as possible. Almost a year has gone by and we have yet to take the first step. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, ballpoint said:

" We have increased the number of guards, added barbed wire to the fences, taken away the vaulting horse used as cover for the tunnel.  There will be no more escapes from this union!"

This might come as a surprise to some, but most of us Europeans are actually very happy about our union and the freedoms it brings to us. Many of us are happy to identify ourselves as Europeans. 

 

 

[ballpoint]

1 minute ago, pitrevie said:

So the democratic votes in Holland, France and Germany don't count then? I guess if Le Pen wins in France the vote will be ignored, or are you preparing the ground if the vote goes against you, a bit like Trump. I seem to recall also that when the UK voted Brexit that EU leaders unanimously said they accepted the vote of the British people and wished them to leave as soon as possible. Almost a year has gone by and we have yet to take the first step. 

Firstly, as a total neutral, I believe that Britain was better off in Europe, but agree that now it is done, it should be gotten over with as soon as possible.  However, since the vote, we have seen a near continuous wave of threats from EU officials and individual countries, culminating in the proposed $62 billion exit bill just presented by the EU commission president.  They have made it very clear that Britain will be punished for daring to leave the union, and as a deterrent to others thinking of doing the same thing.  No matter how democratic any decision to leave may be.

[pitrevie]

Just now, ballpoint said:

Firstly, as a total neutral, I believe that Britain was better off in Europe, but agree that now it is done, it should be gotten over with as soon as possible.  However, since the vote, we have seen a near continuous wave of threats from EU officials and individual countries, culminating in the proposed $62 billion exit bill just presented by the EU commission president.  They have made it very clear that Britain will be punished for daring to leave the union, and as a deterrent to others thinking of doing the same thing.  No matter how democratic any decision to leave may be.

What is clear is that the UK expected to cherry pick. The main plank of those who took us out was that the UK would remain in the single market, I have already posted links of Boris Johnson stating just that. EU leaders have told the UK that there will be no cherry picking if you want out then that is what you will get but for some reason that is regarded as a threat. We cant leave the club and then expect to receive the same benefits. As for the exit bill even if we leave we still have financial commitments pensions etc or Europol etc which we intend to continue with. So there is going to be an exit bill with both sides negotiating the outcome. I presume also you have ignored the threats from our own PM, either I get the deal that I want or I walk away. That will be a wonderful outcome for everyone.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

Firstly, as a total neutral, I believe that Britain was better off in Europe, but agree that now it is done, it should be gotten over with as soon as possible.  However, since the vote, we have seen a near continuous wave of threats from EU officials and individual countries, culminating in the proposed $62 billion exit bill just presented by the EU commission president.  They have made it very clear that Britain will be punished for daring to leave the union, and as a deterrent to others thinking of doing the same thing.  No matter how democratic any decision to leave may be.

EU and UK are on different sides of table on Brexit negotiations.

 

No, EU doesn't want to destroy UK's economy, but EU's primary objective is to make the best deal for EU. That should be logical to understand?

 

But let's forget UK. Brexit is happening and UK will become less interesting topic. A bit like Trump talking of his yuge victory :D

[ballpoint]

10 minutes ago, oilinki said:

EU and UK are on different sides of table on Brexit negotiations.

 

No, EU doesn't want to destroy UK's economy, but EU's primary objective is to make the best deal for EU. That should be logical to understand?

 

But let's forget UK. Brexit is happening and UK will become less interesting topic. A bit like Trump talking of his yuge victory :D

Both you and pitrevie make good points.  When I said I was neutral I meant that I am not a UK citizen, nor that of any other EU country, so am not bogged down by any emotional anti-immigration, fed up with being told what to do by Brussels, baggage.  I believe that the UK is better off in the EU, and was surprised by the leave vote.  However, after seeing the often bitter comments made by both sides, and we can argue over who started it, I come to the conclusion that a sulky, childish tone was adopted right from the time the vote result was announced.  And, rather than being for the good of any one side, this is actually to the detriment of both.  Following an argument, Britain is leaving the neighbours' backyard and taking its football home, but still wants to be able to use the backyard some other time, while the neighbours' children say fine, leave, but you're not getting back into our backyard, and we're keeping your football.  Yes, both are on different sides of the table, and trying to get the best deal for themselves, but given that the EU exports more to the UK than the UK exports to the EU, it would seem that the best deal would be mutually beneficial to both.  Let Britain bring its football over and kick it around with the EU when both sides want a game, and then go home afterwards without being told what to do by the neighbours' parents when it gets there, rather than have the neighbours burst the ball in a fit of pique, to the long term regret of both.  Having milked that analogy dry, I'll end it there and go and have a lie down.