While the UK Prime Minister Theresa May who is up for election on June 8th said to implement stricter measures to curb inflows of immigrants, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that any such move would come at a price. The German leader said: "If the British government ends the free movement of people that will have its price…..This isn't malicious, but they cannot say there will be an upper limit of 100,000 or 200,000 EU citizens, no more…….That will not work. We would have to think about what obstacle we create from the European side to compensate for that."

The relation between the EU and the UK soured after the Theresa May sent the Brexit letter to the European Council as both sides expressed strong rhetoric. The relation soured to the lowest point after a dinner meeting between the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and Theresa May got leaked to a German media and Mr. Juncker criticized the UK of having delusional expectations. Mr. Juncker went further with a comment saying that he would speak French as English is clearly losing its importance in the continent. The EU also angered the UK by supporting 300-year old claims by Spain on Gibraltar and by suggesting that a united Ireland will automatically be part of the EU.

Mrs. Merkel also urged the UK to maintain a "level playing field" with the European bloc to avoid harming businesses and workers. She also warned that the talks are likely to be very very complicated.