Germany’s finance minister, Olaf Scholz, warned on August 30 that a disorderly Brexit could lead to a new financial crisis in Europe.
Addressing the Handelsblatt banking conference in Frankfurt, Scholz said it was still “difficult to say whether [a post-Brexit agreement] can be reached” before London crashes out of the bloc in March 2019. This is why he advised business leaders to make the necessary preparations for a “disorderly Brexit” until it was too late.
As reported by the Chinese news agency Xinhua, Scholz’ comments were made on the same day as EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told a German radio station that companies urgently needed to draw up plans for the worst-case scenario.
In a further sign of growing concern that London and Brussels will fail to clinch a deal to govern their future relationship, representatives of both sides pushed back a deadline by which they hope to conclude corresponding negotiations from mid-October until mid-November.
