BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany welcomes Britain’s publication of a White Paper with proposals on its future relationship with the European Union after Brexit, but it is for the European Commission to assess those proposals, a government spokesman said on Friday.

British media reported this week that British Prime Minister Theresa May had told ministerial colleagues that Brexit proposals had been “cleared” with Chancellor Angela Merkel. At a regular news conference in Berlin, government spokesman Steffen Seibert declined to confirm the reports.