Martin Schulz, the former head of the European Parliament who is leading Germany’s Social Democratic Party into next month’s elections, said that the U. government risks further complicating Brexit negotiations by producing a series of position papers for the talks.
Schulz, who is running against Chancellor Angela Merkel, said that it is “not meaningful” to put forward fresh proposals on top of those already under discussion, and called for the negotiators to be given space to do their work.
“If the United Kingdom, if the government in London every day suggest another proposal, this is for sure, in my eyes, not meaningful,” Schulz said on the sidelines of an event in Berlin late Tuesday. “My feeling is in the turbulent times which we are living, after the beginning of the negotiations, to put new proposals in addition to what is already on the table is not meaningful.”
All the same, Schulz, speaking in English, said that a customs union should be discussed if it could “help to overcome the main problems” in the talks, including the guarantee of the four freedoms: the movement of goods, capital, services and people.
“I think the best way is to give those who are entitled to negotiate, this is David Davis on the U. side, and Michel Barnier on the side of the European Union, time to assess, to evaluate all the proposals on the table,” Schulz said. “Please give the negotiators the time they need to negotiate.
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