EU-Britain: British Arrogance after German leaders demand Brexit clarity from new British PM

Arrogance will come and hound Britain

Reuters reports that German leaders stepped up the pressure on Britain's incoming prime minister Theresa May on Tuesday by demanding she swiftly spell out when she will launch divorce proceedings with the European Union.

"The task of the new prime minister ... will be to get clarity on the question of what kind of relationship Britain wants to build with the European Union," Chancellor Angela Merkel told a news conference.

Her finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said clarity was needed quickly to limit uncertainty after Britain's shock choice for 'Brexit', which has rocked the 28-nation bloc and thrown decades of European integration into reverse.

May, 59, will on Wednesday replace David Cameron, who is resigning after Britons rejected his advice and voted on June 23 to quit the EU. On arriving and departing from Cameron's last cabinet meeting, she waved a little awkwardly from the doorstep of 10 Downing Street, shortly to become her home.

She will face the enormous task of disentangling Britain from a forest of EU laws, accumulated over more than four decades, and negotiating new trade terms while limiting potential damage to the economy.

The pound was up 1.2 percent against the dollar at around $1.3150, boosted by the appointment of a new prime minister weeks earlier than expected after May's main rival dropped out.

But it remains more than 12 percent below the $1.50 it touched on the night of the June 23 referendum, reflecting concerns that Brexit will hit trade, investment and growth.

The German leaders spoke after May's ally Chris Grayling appeared to dampen any hopes among Britain's EU partners that her rapid ascent might accelerate the process of moving ahead with the split and resolving the uncertainty hanging over the 28-nation bloc.

Grayling, the Leader of the House of Commons, said there was no hurry to invoke Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty, which will formally launch the process of separation and start the clock ticking on a two-year countdown to Britain's actual departure.

"I think Article 50 should be triggered when we're ready. The most important thing right now is we do what's in our national interest," Grayling told Sky News.

"We get ourselves ready for the negotiation, we decide what kind of relationship we want to negotiate, and then we move ahead and trigger Article 50. We'll do it right, we'll do it in a proper way, we'll do it when we're ready."

Note EU-Digest: What arrogance by the British, after they decided to leave the EU, they are now dragging their feet to evoke article 50 ( divorce agreement) and also dragging the 27 EU member states into their self evoked economic and political disaster. If Britain keeps dragging their feet one can only hope the EU uses some more direct methods to protect itself, and kicks them out.   

EU-Digest