Merkel: I will do everything to get a Brexit agreement

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN

German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged on Thursday to make every effort to ensure that the U.K.’s withdrawal from the EU will happen in an orderly manner.

“I can tell you that, I will do whatever I can to get an agreement,” Merkel told business leaders, during her address at the German Employers Day event in Berlin.

“A disorderly withdrawal would be the worst possible thing, not only for the economy but also for mentality [while discussing] our future relationship,” she added.

Merkel said despite progress achieved in Brexit talks, she expected more discussions on the withdrawal agreement, especially in the U.K.

British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Cabinet approved last week a draft deal struck by the EU and British negotiators, but it faced mass criticism from within her party and from the opposition Labour Party.

Spain’s reservations about the status of Gibraltar was another big hurdle ahead of the extraordinary Brexit summit on Sunday.

European Council President Donald Tusk announced on Thursday that the negotiators have reached an agreement on a join text on the U.K.’s future relations with the EU, but he also underlined that this text now needed approval by the EU leaders.

“I have just sent to EU27 a draft Political Declaration on the Future Relationship between EU and UK,” Tusk said on Twitter.

“The Commission President has informed me that it has been agreed at negotiators’ level and agreed in principle at political level, subject to the endorsement of the Leaders,” he added.