German minister warns UK over trade, predicts Frankfurt to gain

Reuters: Britain would be “naive” to expect generous trade deals when it quits the European Union, the German minister responsible for its financial centre said on Monday, adding that Frankfurt would grab business from London.

While France has long made no secret about its ambition to take business from London, German politicians have largely avoided such statements and Tarek Al-Wazir’s show a desire in Germany to profit from Brexit, potentially complicating Britain’s attempt to strike a trade deal with the EU.

Al-Wazir, a minister in the state of Hesse, in Germany’s industrial heartland, told Reuters that British politicians were unrealistic in hoping for generous terms for future trade deals.

“It is naive to believe that countries are simply waiting to strike trade deals with Great Britain after Brexit,” he said. “Whoever wants to attract companies with tax cuts cannot expect to be rewarded with generous trade deals. It won’t happen.”

Earlier this year, British Prime Minister Theresa May, when announcing that Britain would quit the European Union’s single market, hinted that it could use tax breaks to fight to attract businesses if the EU imposed punitive tariffs.

Al-Wazir said he expected the clearing of trades in euros, a multi-trillion-euro business, to move from London to centres including Frankfurt, which he is responsible for promoting.