At the World Economic Forum, Euronews canvassed opinions on Theresa May’s Brexit policy speech. <br /><br /> Ryan Heath, former European Commission spokesman .. now Senior EU Correspondent for Politico reckons the British prime minister still has a difficult path ahead. <br /><br /> “If you look at what happened with Greece, if you look at what happened with the other bailout programmes over the last five years, when it’s a 27 versus one negotiation, the 27 win. And they stick together like glue because it’s about their survival. So, I think, essentially telling Europe it has to be nice to Britain otherwise she is going to storm off, is a very risky strategy.”<br /><br /> [Theresa May] needs to be really realistic about the next two years. She doesn’t have the best negotiating team; Britain hasn’t had trade expertise, for example, for decades. So, to build up that expertise and to get this deal done in two years – not just the divorce but the new relationship – it means you’ve really got to keep all the good will you can on the other side.”<br /><br /> Andrew Baldwin, Regional Managing Partner with Ernst & Young for Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa, told Euronews he believes the UK does have some leverage over negotiating access to Europe for its financial firms. <br /><br /> “Financial services in London generate 1.3 billion euros of lending into European companies. Of that, 70 percent of that comes from banks – UK banks or overseas banks that take advantage of London as a base. That is going to be a critical part of any transition arrangements – because if it’s not sorted out, if it’s not agreed and negotiated, the real risk to the European economy is they will see a real slowdown in their bank-driven capital growth.”<br />
