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As Britain prepares for formal exit talks with the union, Frans Timmermans, vice-president of the European Commission, insisted that the “anger” over Brexit was confined to a minority and that most EU-27 countries “are not out to punish the Brits”.
“It’s more of an emotional reaction of sadness,” he told the Financial Times in an interview. “And of course worry. Worry, especially with the economic actors. For heaven’s sake let’s not do too much harm to our economy in this process. I think those are the feelings I sense when talking to member states.” [...]
“People want to try and avoid undue harm to everyone in this process of disentanglement, which is going to be incredibly complex,” he added. “I would take issue with those in the UK who think this is a simple thing.”
Faced with the threats of economic populism and new muscle-flexing of America, Mr Timmermans urged the EU-27 to show the same resolve and determination seen in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the bloc.
The EU “is as strong as it decides to be”, he said, and must put its house in order and “take care of its own interests” regardless of the approach taken by the US under its new president.
“A strong Europe was always seen as something that was in the strategic interests of the US. Now apparently this president seems to have a different vision of that. We need to just wait and see whether this really leads to policy implications,” said Mr Timmermans.
“The only thing that could weaken us is division in Europe. That is what could weaken us. The Americans looking forward for that is an extra challenge, if they are looking forward for that, but they don’t decide about that. We only decide about that. We are as strong as we decide to be. That is my firm conviction.” [...]
Full article on Financial Times (subscription required)
City AM: Germany's finance minster warns against "punishing" Britain and losing out on the City
Speaking to German newspaper Tagesspeigel, Wolfgang Schauble warned against seeking to “punish” the British for the decision to leave the EU.
“We want to keep Great Britain close to us,” Schauble said.
“The London financial centre, for example, serves the European economy as a whole.
“London offers financial services in a quality that is not found on the continent. That would change a bit after a split, but we have to find reasonable rules here with the UK.” [...]
Full interview (in German)