Lagarde says Brexit will give EU more freedom for reform
Christine Lagarde, the head of International Monetary Fund, has expressed optimism that Europe will emerge from the Brexit crisis “on top”, saying Britain’s exit from the EU could leave the bloc with more freedom to implement decisions.
Ms Lagarde suggested the UK’s vote last month to leave the EU left European leaders with greater flexibility to carry out reforms and move ahead with projects the UK had previously opposed.
“I have heard European commissioners, one after the other, say, ‘this is so complicated, we can’t do it because of the British’,” she said. “Maybe there are things that one should consider doing now that the British aren’t going to be sitting at the table.”
“I believe Europeans will come out of Brexit on top,” she added
Ms Lagarde’s comments, made at a business conference in Aix-en-Provence, come as European leaders, policymakers and business executives called for a clear road map for Britain’s exit from the EU to mitigate the effects on the European economy.
The IMF has previously warned that Brexit could trigger a “prolonged period of uncertainty,” and called on the UK and EU to work towards a “smooth and predictable transition”.
Benoit Coeure, a French board member of the European Central Bank [ECB], said of Brexit: “The method and the calendar must be clear,” though not necessarily quick, in order to reduce the negative economic effects of Britain’s vote.
He said that Brexit created a short-term financial risk as well as a longer-term economic one.
“We [the ECB] have instruments that we are ready to use. Thank God we didn’t have to use them so far, but we are ready to do so,” Mr Coeure said.
He added that it was “too early to decide” whether any action from the ECB was required.
Paul Tucker, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, said it was vital that Europe’s response to Brexit was to “flourish to ensure that it maintains its place at the top table”.
He said that France, Germany and other members should do so “not with one arm tied behind its back” but rather with “a temporary setback”.
Mr Tucker also urged European leaders to elevate the importance, visibility and accountability of the Council of Ministers, which represents the governments of European members.
Calling for its meetings to be televised, he said: “We don’t talk enough about the Council of Ministers . . . why is the UN Security Council open to the public and the Council of Ministers not?”
Mr Tucker told the Financial Times on the sidelines of the conference that making the body open to the public was “a basic democratic demand”.
In a sign of German politicians’ desire to reach out to young Britons living on the continent, Sigmar Gabriel, the vice-chancellor, has suggested offering dual citizenship to UK nationals living in other EU countries, once the UK leaves.
“We shouldn’t pull up the drawbridge in front of them,” he told a party political conference over the weekend.
He noted that the majority of Britons under 25 who voted, wanted to stay in the bloc, and claimed that they were “smarter than their odd political elite”.
Germany rarely grants dual citizenship to non-EU nationals.
“Let’s offer [dual citizenship] to young Britons living in Germany, Italy or France so that they can remain EU citizens,” Mr Gabriel said. “We should do everything we can so that young people on both sides of the channel stay in touch”.