British immigration cap would cost, Merkel says

German Chancellor said the U.K. should not restrict EU citizens from entering.

Merkel spoke at a meeting of international labor union officials in Berlin on May 17.

One cause for Brexit was so the U.K. could control immigration.

If the U.K. were to impose limits, the EU would have to balance things out, Merkel said. “We would have to think about what obstacle we create from the European side to compensate for that.”

Merkel said that EU negotiators would consider the 48 percent of U.K. citizens that opposed Brexit.

Brexit started officially in March but negotiations won’t begin until after the June 8 U.K. election.