Angela Merkel: Germany Economy and Irish Backstop

angela merkel: And one of the reasons Mr Altmaier cited for the downgrade was the negative impact of Brexit, according to The Independent. This has led to somespeculation that the alarming weakening of Germany economy it only seems to have narrowly avoided slipping into recession in the second half of 2018 could influence Angela Merkel's stance on Brexit, perhaps inducing Berlin to be amenable to Theresa May's proposals to revisit the Irish backstop in the Withdrawal Agreement. This came on the back of the worst year of GDP growth for Germany 1.5 per cent in 2018 in five years. ISOCountry Groups euro at be cy ee fi fr de gr ie it lv lt lu mc mt nl pt sk si sm es va uk gb us us variants 1 33.4, 2 33.3, 3 33.3 Join Independent Minds For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just 5.99 6.99 9.99 a month Start your free trial Get the best of The Independent With an Independent Minds subscription for just 5.99 6.99 9.99 a month Start your free trial Get the best of The Independent Without the ads for just 5.99 6.99 9.99 a month Start your free trial If German politicians like Mr Altmaier appreciate that their own country's economic self-interest is tightly related to avoiding a no-deal Brexit that could change the terms of trade of the EU-UK Brexit negotiations, goes the thinking. But Andrew Kenningham, a Europe specialist at Capital Economics, is sceptical that a weakening UK economy ahead of Brexit was the primary reason for slowing German growth last year, noting that industrial disruption due to new automotive emissions regulations was influential in the third quarter contraction. But does the logic here stand up How much is Germany's slowdown actually due to Brexit And how damaging would a no-deal scenario even be for Europe's largest economy Watch more Germany slumps to worst growth in five years in 2018 Germany exported around 95bn of goods and services to the UK in 2017, making us the country's fourth largest export market, after the US, France and China. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.