She said the same is happening in Greece, Spain and Portugal. Now it's very important to work together. We can no longer be in a situation where there is one country or two countries that do not work in the EU, which is very bad news for us, she said. Germany has been heavily involved in the Brexit negotiations because of the strong influence it has over international organisations such as the European Commission. We do not want to stand in the way of the project the EU puts together. It is our European duty to go as far as can be allowed and for that we will pay our fair share, Merkel said. French and German politicians have demanded the EU not accept an economic deal without a guarantee of full market access.