Denmark Sees `Very Hard' Process Ahead for U.K. in Exit From EU
Denmark Sees `Very Hard' Process Ahead for U.K. in Exit From EU
(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. faces an increasingly difficult process in leaving the European Union after failing to deliver on promises and falling behind in outlining a way forward, Denmark’s finance minister said.
The British haven’t delivered on coming up with proposals to resolve the situation and are also behind in providing a detailed document on progress ahead of a key summit next week, according Finance Minister Kristian Jensen.
“That means it’s going to be a very hard process from here on,” he said in an interview in Copenhagen Wednesday.
EU leaders have been stepping up calls for the U.K. to make progress as Prime Minister Theresa May is struggling to bring unity even within her own party. She faces a vote in parliament on Wednesday on how much power Parliament should have to direct Brexit talks.
As other countries, Denmark is working on contingency plans on how to deal with the U.K. failing to secure a divorce deal before the scheduled departure date of March 2019.
“The cabinet hasn’t made concrete decisions since it’s within the mandate of each ministry to prepare,” Jensen said. “So what the Ministry of Food does to prepare for animal control or what other ministries do on their turf that’s their job. What we’ve asked all of them to do is to prepare for if there’s no deal, but we’re still working under the assumption that we’ll get one.”
Jensen added that Denmark has “a very clear desire to secure the best possible agreement to continue cooperating closely between Denmark and Britain.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Levring in Copenhagen at plevring1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jonas Bergman at jbergman@bloomberg.net
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