Belgium: UK 'will lose out' after Brexit whilst becoming EU competition - Merkel

*NO CUTAWAYS AT SOURCE*
M/S German Chancellor Angela Merkel sitting to speak, Brussels
SOT, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (German): "It was good that we unanimously condemned the military offensive in northern Syria and called upon Turkey to withdraw its troops. We now have to see whether the ceasefire brought about by the help of the US administration yesterday will contribute to a settlement of the conflict. Of course, we would like to see that."
SOT, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (German): "But when you look to research, taxation system, yes, but we are already competitors as far as that is concerned. We have always been talking about that to a vast extent, because as we have said before taxation is the responsibility of the sole member state itself, with the speed of digitalisation. Great Britain once it has left the customs union will become a third country, a country with which we can enter into a free trade agreement. It will thus become an economic competitor. I think it will be less of a competitor when we look at the field of foreign policy because I think we will continue to engage with them and coordinate and cooperate with them but when it comes to the issue of speed, how quickly you can agree on data standards, how quickly you can create certain platforms, how quickly you can foster digitalisation in your own country, we will no longer be linked on one level playing field I believe, it will develop in different ways and at different speeds and we will have to compare the success of Great Britain with the success of the remaining 27 countries. Great Britain will of course lose out somewhat. Easy access to the internal market, being part of the internal market, is a tremendous advantage. Whether the economic chains will remain so deeply integrated in the future will depend on how our trade agreement looks, whether they will be barriers or the number of these barriers, whether the access will be easy or not. As I said, we have to negotiate that and Great Britain has to think about that."
M/S Merkel leaving
SCRIPT
While UK is likely looking to become EU's competitor in research, tax policy and digitalisation following its exit from the union, its departure from the single market will probably come at a cost, according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaking in a press briefing in Brussels on Friday.
"Great Britain will, of course, lose out somewhat. Easy access to the internal market, being part of the internal market, is a tremendous advantage," said Merkel speaking on the second day of the EU summit.
Merkel once again condemned Turkey’s offensive into northern Syria saying, “We now have to see whether the ceasefire brought about by the help of the US administration yesterday will contribute to a settlement of the conflict.