UK will not be allowed any cherrypicking over Brexit: Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Britain will not be given much leeway to “cherrypick” the parts of the European Union it prefers in the Brexit negotiations without accepting its four basic freedoms.

“We will not allow any cherrypicking,” Merkel said at a meeting of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party members in the German western city of Essen on Tuesday.

“The four basic freedoms must be safeguarded ― freedom of movement for people, goods, services and financial market products. Only then can there be access to the single market,” she added.

Speaking to a party gathering of more than 1,000 delegates, the chancellor said it was absolutely necessary to strengthen Europe's competitiveness at a time that the Brexit negotiations were threatening to weaken the domestic market.

Merkel made the remarks after the government of British Prime Minister Theresa May appears to be wavering over the issue of departure from the 28-member bloc between the options of soft and hard Brexit.

Earlier in the day, the EU warned that Britain will have less than 18 months to strike a deal to exit the bloc once Brexit negotiations begin, setting a deadline by October 2018.

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said the two-year ultimatum for final withdrawal stated in Article 50 of the EU treaty meant there would be less than 18 months for actual negotiations because it will take several months to have a deal ratified by the UK, the other 27 EU states and the EU parliament.

Last week, Britain said it may pay to maintain access to the EU single market after Brexit, reaping the benefits of freer trade with Europe while relinquishing the ability to influence rules and regulations.

Retaining access to the single market has been one of the major worries for UK businesses ever since the country voted to leave the EU in a referendum on June 23.

May’s government says that in order to maintain access to the single market, the UK could loosen its borders to meet certain EU immigration standards.

However, Brexit supporters have strongly opposed that strategy, saying they prefer less immigration to single market access.

May pressured over Brexit plan

This comes as the British premier is currently facing a parliamentary rebellion over refusing to unveil her government’s plan for withdrawing from the EU.

As many as 40 lawmakers from May’s Conservative party are expected to support a motion in parliament, calling on the government to publish its plan for leaving the bloc before triggering Brexit.

The motion, put forward by the opposition Labour Party, is to be debated on Wednesday.

The negotiations to withdraw the UK from the EU would begin sometime in March next year, provided that a legal dispute between the government and the MPs resolves by then.

A High Court ruling last month said the government did not have the authority to trigger Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty, the formal process for starting Brexit, without parliamentary approval.

May appealed the ruling and is now waiting to present her case when the court convenes later this month.

In a landmark referendum held on June 23, nearly 52 percent of British voters, amounting to more than 17 million citizens, opted to leave the EU, a decision that sent shock waves throughout the world.

Those in favor of a British withdrawal from the EU argued that outside the bloc, London would be better positioned to conduct its own trade negotiations, better able to control immigration and free from what they believe to be excessive EU regulations and bureaucracy.

Those in favor of remaining in the bloc believed that leaving it would risk the UK's prosperity, diminish its influence over world affairs, and result in trade barriers between the UK and the EU.          

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