Germany rules out informal Brexit talks before article 50 is triggered...

London Guardian
June 27, 2016

Germany has ruled out any possibility of informal talks on Britain leaving the EU before it files formal notice of its intention to go, dealing a major blow to the Brexit campaign’s leaders.

As the US secretary of state, John Kerry, warned in Brussels that the UK’s departure would have “consequences” demanding “sensitive, thoughtful, responsible and strategic” leadership, chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman said only Britain could start the exit process.

If the government decided it needed “a reasonable amount of time to do that, we respect that”, Steffen Seibert said. But he cautioned: “One thing is clear – before Great Britain has sent this notification, there will be no informal preliminary talks about the exit modalities.”

Merkel herself told reporters she had “a certain amount of understanding” for the fact that Britain may need “a certain amount of time to analyse things”, but added that a “long-term suspension” would serve no one’s interests.

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