IfW President on Brexit Agreement: "London gives practically all trumps out of hand"

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The Kiel trade economist Gabriel Felbermayr calls for more compromise from the European Union during the Brexit negotiations. "I think it would be more useful if the Europeans would meet the British on a few selected points," said the President of the Institute for the World Economy (IfW) the SPIEGEL.

• ("Trump courtes Johnson to annoy Merkel": read the full interview with Gabriel Felbermayr here.)

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Issue 40/2019

The deal too much

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It is conceivable to give the British government an extraordinary right of termination for the controversial backstop after two years. "Then the British would no longer have to feel that they were completely dependent on the EU."

IfW Kiel / Michael Stefan

IfW economist Gabriel Felbermayr

At the same time Brussels should offer the British to establish a joint customs union. This would give London "a say in future customs agreements," said the economist. "Both sides would benefit from such a deal."

Felbermayr expressed sympathy for those British House MPs who had rejected the previous prime minister's Brexit deal, Theresa May, three times. With the treaty London "practically all trumps out of hand, without knowing what comes out in the talks on a future trade agreement," said Felbermayr. "This is not a good deal."

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Brussels has an elemental interest in keeping the British economically close to the EU after leaving the country, argues the economist. "In a world where the US and China are blatantly relying on the law of the strong, nothing matters as much as the size of their own market," he said.

With Britain, however, the second largest economy in Europe would leave the EU network. "The Europeans should not allow this out of well-understood self-interest."

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