Hard Brexit would cost Germany, says EU's Oettinger
December 27, 2018
Oettinger, the EU's budget commissioner, said Thursday that if Britain ended up not paying its dues into the 28-nations' coffers in 2019 under a "hard" Brexit, Germany's extra bill would amount to what he termed "in the mid-three digit range" of hundreds of millions of euros.
The former Baden-Württemberg regional state premier and conservative Christian Democrat (CDU) told newspapers of Germany's Funke media group that November's draft Brexit deal could still be adopted in Westminster.
Read more: RBS applies for German banking license
"It is not entirely unlikely that the British parliament will vote in January for the divorce agreement," Öttinger said. "For a disorderly Brexit or for a new referendum there is certainly no majority [in Britain]."
He was of the view that the possibility that Britain might somehow remain in the EU had increased in the previous months,
"Nevertheless, I assume that it will come to an exit at the end of March," said Oettinger.
ipj/se (AFP, Reuters)