According to survey, 58% of public think Berlin should not be open to compromise with Britain over its EU departure

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has strong support from her electorate to to take a tough line with the UK over Brexit, according to a new survey.

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Fifty-eight percent of the German public think Berlin should not be open to compromise with Britain over its EU departure and instead think Merkel should take a firm negotiating position, the Körber Foundation poll found.

There was particular backing for Germany to take a hardline approach with the UK among supporters of Merkel’s own CDU party, with 65% of them saying she should not give way. Support for a compromise deal was strongest among the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and leftwing parties, the survey found.

The results came as it was reported that Merkel had rebuffed efforts by Theresa May to secure an early deal on the reciprocal residency rights of UK and EU citizens in the wake of Brexit.

Although France is often proposed as the country most likely to drive a hard bargain with the UK, the survey shows Merkel has approval to be tough.

It found that support for a tough negotiating line with the UK was strongest – at 64% – in the former West Germany. And more bad news for the British government came in the form of figures showing that the number of Germans backing cooperation with the UK is falling, down from 63% in 2014 to 53% now.

Indeed, relations with the UK were regarded as a top German foreign policy priority by only 5% of those surveyed. Only 5% said they regarded the UK as Germany’s most important or second most important partner, with 60% citing France and the same number the US.



The survey, undertaken in October, also found that 67% of Germans believed the Brexit vote had reduced EU cohesion among remaining members of the EU, making them feel the bloc is heading in the wrong direction.

Speaking at the unveiling of the survey, Paolo Gentiloni, the Italian foreign minister, argued that Brexit represented a wake-up call for the whole of the EU. He emphasised that the EU’s position that the free movement of citizens is the price for access to the single market was non-negotiable.

The survey made clear the extent to which Germans see the EU in a different light from many Britons, with 79% of respondents saying they regarded the EU as a project for peace and 75% believing that it protected individual freedom.