- Title: Merkel wants good Brexit deal that works for both sides
- Date: 19th June 2017
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (JUNE 19, 2017) (REUTERS) GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL AND ROMANIAN PRESIDENT KLAUS IOHANNIS ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE PHOTOGRAPHERS (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "We have common guidelines. For me, it is above all about the EU27 proceeding together and listening carefully to Britain's wishes and expectations. And it is also about representing our own interests and progressing towards a good agreement. But on the first day of the negotiations it is too early to speculate about the details. I want us to reach a good agreement and this should be in the interests of both sides. But we 27 will formulate our interests very clearly, and hopefully together." (SOUNDBITE) (German) ROMANIAN PRESIDENT, KLAUS IOHANNIS, SAYING: "On the topic of Brexit I would just say this: I think it's excellent that the EU27 have not only decided to work together but everything indicates they are actually doing so. Therefore we are in a good position for the negotiations. On the other hand we have agreed and informed the British authorities that we want a sequential process, that is to say firstly negotiating an orderly withdrawal and only then discussing the foundation for the future relationship. Britain has made varying statements about that during the election campaign there a few weeks ago. But I think that on this point too we will achieve good results. The negotiations are just beginning and of course we are waiting to see how they will go, but I would say with informed optimism." MEDIA IOHANNIS LISTENING MERKEL SPEAKING IOHANNIS AND MERKEL SHAKING HANDS, LEAVING
- Embargoed: 3rd July 2017 13:44
- Keywords: EU Britain Angela Merkel Brexit
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: European Union,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0016LY291J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she wanted a "good agreement" for both Britain and the European Union in the Brexit negotiations that started on Monday (June 19).
"For me, it is above all about the EU27 proceeding together and listening carefully to Britain's wishes and expectations," Merkel told a news conference after meeting Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, adding that the remaining 27 member states would formulate their own interests very clearly.
Iohannis said it was "excellent" that EU27 were working together and that he looked forward to the result of the negotiations with "informed optimism".
Almost a year to the day since Britons shocked themselves and their neighbours by voting on June 23 to cut loose from their main trading partner, and nearly three months since Prime Minister Theresa May locked them into a two-year countdown to Brexit in March 2019, almost nothing about the future is clear as negotiations begin. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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