The managing director of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) warned Britain unshackling from the EU without an agreement would be “the worst result for all sides”. Joachim Lang said Brexit would trigger chaos and warned London would face “a hard break” in the event of a no deal.
He said: “Without clear guidelines for the movement of goods, Brexit will become an economic disaster for companies
“A British exit from the EU without an agreement would be the worst result for all sides.
“If London doesn’t move on key issues, British companies will also have to face a hard break.”
Mr Lang called for a future agreement to go deeper than traditional EU free trade agreements with other countries.
He said it was important to keep the already large barriers to trade as simple as possible.
Meanwhile, the BDI released a paper on goods trading, which contains 42 demands aimed at the UK and EU.
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But Mrs Merkel refused to admit defeat, insisting she would be kept “busy” until the end of the year trying to deliver a free-trade agreement.
Speaking previously at the European Parliament in Brussels, Mrs Merkel said: “One key partner will remain the United Kingdom.
“We need to shape our future relationship and that will keep us busy over the next six months.
“Progress in the negotiations thus far have been slim, to put it diplomatically. We’ve agreed with the UK to accelerate the pace of talks to reach an agreement by the autumn – an agreement that can be ratified by the end of the year.
“I will continue to push for a good solution but we should also prepare for a possible no-deal scenario.”
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier travelled to London earlier this week for Brexit talks with David Frost.
Today, a Downing Street spokesman said the UK was committed to working hard to agree underlying principles for a post-Brexit deal with the EU in talks this month.
A spokesman said: ”The UK remains committed to working hard to find an early understanding on the principles underlying an agreement out of the intensified talks process during July, as agreed at the High Level Meeting on 15 June.”
Additional reporting by Monika Pallenberg