ANGELA Merkel fears Britain will become a major economic competitor to the EU like the US and China after Brexit.
The German Chancellor warned the UK will be able to do battle with bloc for a slice of global trade once it has left.
Angela Merkel fears Britain will become a major economic competitor to the EU like the US and China after Brexit
Speaking after a dinner with Emmanuel Macron, she called for closer commercial cooperation between Paris and Berlin in response.
She said France and Germany must work together more on trade, environmental standards and artificial intelligence to protect their interests.
Mrs Merkel said: We will do all this in the knowledge that with the departure of Britain, a potential competitor will of course emerge for us.
That is to say, in addition to China and the US, there will be Britain as well.
Her remarks come amid growing unease in Brussels about Boris Johnsons insistence that the UK will break free from EU rules after Brexit.
The PM has demanded that so-called Level Playing Field provisions agreed by Theresa May are stripped out of the blueprint for a future trade deal.
He is gunning for a best in class FTA rather than the close partnership based on a Customs Union sought by his predecessor.
But at a meeting of EU ambassadors this week a number of Member States raised fears that could lead to a Singapore-on-Thames on their doorstep.
They fear that British businesses would be able to undercut continental ones if the UK adopts lower labour and environmental standards after Brexit.
