Photo: DPAGerman high-end carmaker BMW issued a veiled warning on Thursday that a bad Brexit deal could see Mini production leave Britain, calling for "pragmatism" from London and Brussels in EU exit talks. Free movement for skilled workers," BMW chief executive Harald Krueger told investors at the Munich firm's annual general meeting. BMW employs around 18,000 people in the United Kingdom, and claims that its presence supports a further 46,000 workers. Car producers have become emblematic of the difficulties Britain will face in extricating itself from the 28-nation European Union after a close-run referendum last June. Around 56 percent of the 1.7 million cars made in the UK in 2016 were exported to the European Union, and the country also imports large numbers of vehicles manufactured in France, Germany and Spain.

Source: The Local May 11, 2017 11:15 UTC