Brexit preparations

 

Athough the EU has steadfast denied any negotiations before UK trigger article 50 and PM May is silent about her detailed Brexit layout, the discussions are in progress both internally and between the the two "parties" - at least indirectly through media. 

There is a lot of tough speach, like President Hollande yesterday

“Britain has decided to go for a Brexit, in fact I believe a hard Brexit. Well, we have to follow through with Britain’s wishes to leave the European Union and we need to be firm,” Hollande told a dinner hosted by the Jacques Delors Institute, a think tank.

“If not, we would jeopardise the fundamental principles of the EU,” he added, warning that other countries might be tempted to leave as well.

But the most realistic result of the forthcoming negotiations will be an agreement where both parties can say convincingly that "we agreed a deal which is good both for the UK and the EU", not an outcome where one of the parties is a winner and the other a looser.

Germany’s economy minister Sigmar Gabriel seems now to have a necessary flexible attitude. Speaking at an industry event in Berlin on Thursday, he argued that the  European Union should try to keep Britain as close as possible in negotiations on their future relationship following the Brexit vote – even keeping the door open to a possible return.

Mr Gabriel said it was important to make clear that full access to the bloc's single market was ultimately linked to accepting freedom of movement.

"But this should not prevent us from trying to do everything to keep the Britons as close as possible to Europe. This must be our goal," Gabriel said.

 "We must try to formulate offers in a way so that the Britons remain close to us, also to have the chance that they return some day," he added.

And while the discussions evolve, the context of Brexit changes. A new facet is that the German government could soon present a bill to impose a 5-year period of residence before EU citizens, who do not work in Germany, can claim social benefits in the country. A proposal which reminds us of PM Cameron´s EU-negotiations before the Brexit-referendum.