{"588811":{"#nid":"588811","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The French, German and Irish Consuls General gave their countries\u2019 perspectives on Brexit","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn February\u0026nbsp;28 the Consuls General of France, Germany and Ireland discussed their countries\u0026rsquo; approaches to the up-coming negotiations surrounding the UK\u0026rsquo;s departure from the EU.\u0026nbsp; There was a notable degree of congruence among their countries\u0026rsquo;\u0026nbsp;preferences.\u0026nbsp; They all three expressed regret at the UK\u0026rsquo;s decision to leave.\u0026nbsp; Each stressed that it is imperative that the UK not have a better deal than the remaining member states.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;French Consul General Louis de Corail\u0026nbsp;stressed that this was not about \u0026ldquo;punishing\u0026rdquo; the UK, but recognition that being a member of a \u0026ldquo;club\u0026rdquo; comes with responsibilities as well as privileges, and one cannot claim the latter without the former.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;German Consul General Detlev Ruenger\u0026nbsp;underlined that this was important so as not to encourage other countries to leave the EU.\u0026nbsp; The Consuls General stressed that given that constraint, each of their governments was as close-as-possible an economic relationship with the UK.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;Irish Consul General Shane Stephens\u0026nbsp;underlined that Ireland is expected to be most severely affected economically by the UK\u0026rsquo;s departure.\u0026nbsp; In fact the fall in the value of the British pound in the wake of the referendum has adversely affected Irish exports, particularly agricultural exports, to the UK.\u0026nbsp; Consul General Ruenger\u0026nbsp;pointed out that the UK\u0026rsquo;s economy is as large as that of the smallest 20 EU member states.\u0026nbsp; Consul General\u0026nbsp;de Corail noted that France has its largest trade surplus with the UK.\u0026nbsp; Both the French and German Consuls General remarked that their governments\u0026nbsp;are keen to continue security cooperation with the UK.\u0026nbsp; The Irish Consul General stressed the importance of finding a solution that does not disrupt the Northern Ireland peace process, including preserving the Common Travel Area.\u0026nbsp; Both the German and Irish Consuls General expressed concern that the UK\u0026rsquo;s departure might tip the political balance in the EU in a way that would be to the detriment to their countries.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn February 28 the Consuls General of France, Germany and Ireland discussed their countries\u0026rsquo; approaches to the up-coming negotiations surrounding the UK\u0026rsquo;s departure from the EU.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"On February 28 the Consuls General of France, Germany and Ireland discussed their countries\u2019 approaches to the up-coming negotiations surrounding the UK\u2019s departure from the EU."}],"uid":"34435","created_gmt":"2017-03-15 19:26:43","changed_gmt":"2017-03-15 19:26:43","author":"jpalacios9","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-03-03T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2017-03-03T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"588810":{"id":"588810","type":"image","title":"Consul Generals on Brexit","body":null,"created":"1489605701","gmt_created":"2017-03-15 19:21:41","changed":"1489605701","gmt_changed":"2017-03-15 19:21:41","alt":"","file":{"fid":"224394","name":"ConsulGeneralsonBrexit copy.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ConsulGeneralsonBrexit%20copy.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ConsulGeneralsonBrexit%20copy.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":651554,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ConsulGeneralsonBrexit%20copy.jpg?itok=x4em9YHS"}}},"media_ids":["588810"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"},{"id":"1285","name":"Sam Nunn School of International Affairs"}],"categories":[{"id":"151","name":"Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts"}],"keywords":[{"id":"173761","name":"Brett"},{"id":"173004","name":"Georgia Tech International Affairs"},{"id":"504","name":"Ireland"},{"id":"14845","name":"Consulate General of France"},{"id":"768","name":"Germany"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}