Merkel also said that it’s most important to have Britain as a partner before negotiating on its exit.
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May faced hard and at times hostile questions over her appointing of Boris Johnson as foreign secretary, who is widely seen as the author of the Brexit vote and of Europe’s difficulties, and whether ending free movement of labour for EU citizens in order to curb immigration was worth the sacrifice of European trade.
But “Britain remains open for business”, she said. In a recent comment to City of London businessmen, the British PM said: “We want to get the right deal in trade and goods and services for the United Kingdom”.
“We will of course need to get an idea of what ideas Britain has regarding withdrawal”, said Merkel, with a note of warning: “We don’t want an impasse, the British people don’t want it but the European Union doesn’t want it either”.
May has said that Britain would not trigger Article 50 this year.
May said her priority was a “sensible and orderly departure”. “I promise you from the German side we will certainly stand up for our interests – just as Britain does for its own citizens”.
Following the June 23 vote to leave the EU, Britain now faces a complicated process of negotiations to remove itself from the bloc.
European Union leaders have uniformly said they will not enter into formal exit negotiations with Britain until it triggers Article 50, and have urged Britain to move swiftly. Merkel also believed that it was important for the United Kingdom to have clear objectives before beginning negotiations.
By heading to Germany and then later to France, May is keen to sound out the EU’s two most powerful leaders, Merkel and President Francois Hollande, as, officials expect, the EU’s biggest member states will take a lead in the talks.
The trips to Paris and Berlin were meant to build May’s relationships with key European leaders ahead of the critical Brexit negotiations.
“I also want to be clear here today, and across Europe in the weeks ahead that we are not walking away from European friends”.
It had been due to start in July 2017.
The UK is to relinquish its planned six-month presidency of the European Council in preparation for exiting the EU, Downing Street said.
It was the first time since becoming Prime Minister that Mrs May had confirmed she did not intend to start the process of Brexit until the start of 2017.
The announcement is the first key responsibility relinquished by Britain in the wake of the European Union referendum result.
Dr Merkel’s intransigence on the legal process was tempered by a willingness to give Mrs May time to prepare her government’s stance going into negotiations.
“We will make a success of it”.
But when another Tory MP asked her to confirm she was “prepared to reject staying in the single regulated market” May hedged her bets, warning: “We also negotiate the right and best deal for trade in goods and services for the British people”.
“There’s no wiggle room”, said Simon Hix, professor of political science at the London School of Economics, citing resistance to Britain’s demands in Germany and in Brussels.
She is already coming under pressure to secure a good deal for Britain and yesterday Labour leadership hopeful Owen Smith set “three tests” for the new PM.
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She later had dinner with Merkel to further discuss Brexit over a meal of tuna with mango chutney and veal with mushrooms.
