German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said British politicians are still living under the “illusion” that Britain will retain most of its rights and privileges once it leaves the European Union (EU).
“Countries with a third-country status, and that’s what Great Britain will be, cannot and will not have the same or even more rights as a member of the EU. All 27 member-states and the European institutions agree on this,” said Merkel.
EU leaders will meet on Saturday to formally adopt their joint negotiating position on Brexit, the Guardian reported on Thursday.
The future relationship can only be discussed once the exit issues — such as Britain’s payments to the EU budget —are resolved, Markel told MPs while addressing Bundestag, lower house of Germany’s Parliament.
On the sequence of the Brexit talks, she said “some people in the UK still have some illusions on that score”.
“That would be just a waste of time,” she said.
Merkel said the immediate Brexit priorities to decide on were: The rights of EU citizens in the UK, Britons in continental Europe and Britain’s ongoing financial obligations.