UK can make demands about EU market access, we have demands too: Germany

[July 15, 2016]  BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's finance minister believes it is reasonable for Britain to demand access to the EU market for London's banks, but Berlin will also make demands in talks on Britain's future relationship with the bloc, a ministry spokesman said.

The spokesman was clarifying comments made on Thursday by Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who said it was "very reasonable" of his British counterpart to want access to the EU single market for financial institutions in London.

"He used the word 'reasonable'," the spokesman said on Friday in response to a question from Reuters.

"But the sentence then goes on. He said the British would make demands that are reasonable from their point of view, and from our point of view it is just as reasonable that we have demands," the spokesman told a government news conference.

"We will see what the result is of this negotiating process. An application has not even been put forward yet and so everything we say about that is speculation," he added.

Asked if this meant Schaeuble did not share the view of Britain's new Chancellor, Philip Hammond, the spokesman replied: "He said he understands that from the viewpoint of the British such demands are made, and that the British will hopefully understand that we have other demands."

Hammond said on Thursday Britain must ensure access to the EU's single market for its financial services industry.

Schaeuble was asked after meeting U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Thursday whether that would be possible.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble addresses a news conference at the Finance Ministry in Berlin, Germany, July 14, 2016. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

The German minister replied in English: "I think it is a very reasonable position of the new chancellor of the exchequer, what you just mentioned and what he has said. And I look forward, as I have said, to have close cooperation with him."

"But I think it is also a reasonable position of all European institutions and responsibles (officials), even the national governments, that we will start the discussions on how we solve these problems raised by the British decision".

Britain's new prime minister, Theresa May, has said she will not trigger the negotiations to leave the 28-member bloc before the end of the year, to allow time for the country to work out what it wants from its new relationship with Europe and how it will go about getting it.

(Reporting by Gernot Heller and Caroline Copley; Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Toby Chopra)

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