Germany has hardened its stance on Brexit as Theresa May, Britain’s prime minister, prepares to launch the historic exit negotiations tomorrow.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, who made accommodating noises after last summer’s referendum, has adopted a tough position on issues such as the UK’s exit bill and the sequencing of negotiations, partly in response to increasing expectations that Britain is seeking a hard Brexit.
“We have no interest in punishing the UK, but we also have no interest in putting European integration in danger over the UK,” Wolfgang Sch?uble, the finance minister and Ms Merkel’s close ally, said in a recent FT interview.