She said whether Britain would get access to the European single market depended on whether it accepted the EU’s four freedoms, including the freedom of movement of people.
Mrs Merkel said: “If Britain says no, it can’t get full access to the European single market.”
– Merkel says UK CAN’T block freedom of movement as ALL EU nations will want it:
ANGELA MERKEL has revealed fears other nations will copy Britain if the country is allowed to scrap free movement while retaining full access to the European single market.
The German Chancellor spoke out to rule out the possibility of “concessions” being made for Britain which is set to divorce the Union after a referendum vote in June.
Talks on trade with Britain after it leaves the Union have created tensions on both sides of the split since Brussels beuaracrats insisted the nation cannot access the single market.
Mrs Merkel said on Saturday Britain could not get concessions on the freedom of movement – not because it cannot be done – but because she worries other countries will want the same.
Britain must secure a new trade deal with the bloc but Theresa May’s Government must be careful to give the country more control over migration from the bloc.
Mrs Merkel told a conference of the youth wing of her Christian Democrats (CDU): “If I start making concessions on the freedom of movement, then another country will tomorrow come and say: ‘I don’t want so many Bulgarians and Romanian workers either’.
“And then a third country will come and then the extreme forces from Europe will come and then we’ll soon all be closing our borders again and not having any freedom at all and then that’s no longer Europe.”
She said whether Britain would get access to the European single market depended on whether it accepted the EU’s four freedoms, including the freedom of movement of people.
Mrs Merkel said: “If Britain says no, it can’t get full access to the European single market.”
Mrs Merkel said that while she was very fond of Britain and regretted its decision to quit the EU – which she considered a major break in the bloc’s history – she could not start calling the EU itself into question.She said: “I would always think in favour of Great Britain but always with the thought that we 27 member states want to keep our Europe.” Mrs Merkel’s comments come after French President Francois Hollande said Brexit negotiations should not include even a suggestion of scrapping free movement.
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