BERLIN, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Brexit withdrawal agreement recently reached by the European Union (EU) and British negotiators will require further discussions before it can be signed, German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) warned on Thursday.
"We have gotten a step closer, but there will surely be a need for many additional discussions, especially also in Britain", Merkel said during a speech of the congress of employers in Berlin. "I will do everything I can to ensure that we get a deal", she added.
The draft treaty in question is intended to resolve the most pressing questions of the looming withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU and includes a "backstop" provision for London to remain in the bloc's customs union unless a more comprehensive free trade agreement can be reached at a later point.
British Prime Minister Theresa May is still battling to secure domestic parliamentary approval for the plan after witnessing several high-profile resignations from her cabinet and receiving letters of no-confidence from dozens of Conservative party delegates which could trigger a leadership contest if more at 48 such notices are signed.
It is still unclear whether a sufficient majority can be found to support to the deal in the British House of Commons. The Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), whom May's government relies upon to successfully pass legislation assuming the Conservatives vote as a unified bloc, has already threatened to oppose the treaty in its current form.
Furthermore, the Spanish government also announced that it would vote against the agreement in the European Council unless the status of the contested island of Gibraltar is clarified in the text.
Merkel reiterated her view on Thursday that a so-called no-deal Brexit, in which the United Kingdom crashes out of the EU without defining the nature of its future relationship on March 29th, 2019, would be the least desirable outcome of negotiations. "For business, as well as for the mental situation of our future relationship, a disorderly exit is the worst possible path", she said.
The congress of employers convenes in the German capital towards the end of each year and provides a forum for discussion among leading business- and political representatives in the EU's largest national economy. German finance minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) recently noted during budgetary consultations that Brexit was likely to increase the economic risks faced by the bloc.
European and British negotiators aim to have their withdrawal agreement formally passed by the EU heads of state during an upcoming special Brexit summit in Brussels on Sunday. On Thursday, both sides announced that they had also formulated an additional brief political declaration on their future relationship to accompany the broader exit deal.
