Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a plenary session during the Western Balkans Summit 2018 at Lancaster House in London, Britain, July 10, 2018.Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS

LONDON (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday welcomed proposals on Britain’s exit from the European Union drawn up by Prime Minister Theresa May’s government, saying that they brought the Brexit process “a whole step forward”.

“We will remain Europeans even if we’re not in the same European Union,” she said, standing alongside May at the concluding news conference of a London summit on the western Balkans.

“With Britain putting forward a white paper, this has come a whole step forward, and we as 27 ... will form a position and give a joint response. But it’s good that the proposals are on the table - that much I can say already without going into details,” Merkel said.