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German MEP says EU wants to punish UK in Brexit talks
Writing in The Times, German MEP Hans-Olaf Henkel argues that the European Parliament Brexit negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt, and the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, want to “punish” Britain in the Brexit talks. He adds, “The reason is simple. They would seek to make sure that Brexit is such a catastrophe that no country dares to take the step of leaving the EU again.” Henkel stressed that he would like the UK to stay a member of Euratom but warned if it chooses to do so it would “will mean paying in and abiding by the rules, as Britain does now, and accepting the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice when it comes to overseeing Euratom.” Henkel is a member of Germany’s far-right AfD party.
Source: The Times
The only tool that the EU can wield is to forbid the importation of British goods. But that is self-defeating. The EU punishes its own citizens by forbidding them from purchasing British goods and services. I doubt that the EU will try to forbid its exporters from selling into the British market, so the European Central Bank will accumulate British Pounds. It's tantamount to selling someone a good or service and telling him that you promise never to cash his check.
