Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced today that he has secured a trade agreement with the EU. He said that the UK has now taken back control of its laws, waters and “destiny”. Mr Johnson added that the negotiations were “sometimes fierce” but the deal is “a good thing for our friends and partners” in the EU. The Prime Minister said: “We will be able to decide how and where we are going to stimulate new jobs and new homes in freeports and new green industrial zones.
“For the first time since 1973, we will be an independent coastal state with full control over our waters.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also hailed the agreement today as a “fair deal”.
One country that may be breathing a sigh of relief is Germany – as the deal will be welcomed by the country’s car industry.
More German cars are exported to the UK than any other country – about one in seven cars made in Germany are sold in Britain.
Fears of a no deal had provoked dire warnings from German car manufacturers.
Just two days before the Uk left the EU in January, German auto industry association VDA said: “The consequences of a ‘no deal’ would be fatal.”
They also warned that “jobs are on the line” as Germany’s biggest car manufacturers pleaded with the British Government to create clarity over Brexit and ensure tariff-free trade can continue.
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In 2016, Britain was the largest single export market for German manufacturers, who sold 800,000 new cars there, or 20 percent of their overall global exports.
Felix Schoenherr of Werte Union – a group within the Christian Democratic Union that has previously criticised Mrs Merkel – told Express.co.uk of how the German car industry wants to hold on to British trade.
He said in March: “It’s mainly exports, of course the UK is an important market, so we are dependent on that trade relationship as well as our trade with the US, also to China. So this is an issue.
“I think from a German economic perspective the UK is a very important trade partner, and we should try to get an agreement on both sides.”
