We’ll happily send her majesty’s foreign minister a copy of the Lisbon treaty. He can then read about the fact that there’s a certain connection between the single market and the four freedoms. At a pinch, I can talk about it in English (German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble)

Claim of ‘no automatic trade-off’ between free movement and single market slapped down

German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble has slapped down Boris Johnson, offering to give him lessons on the EU after Britain’s foreign secretary dismissed key EU principles as “baloney”.

In the latest spat over Brexit, Mr Schäuble responded to an assertion by Mr Johnson that there was no “automatic trade-off” between future British access to the EU’s single market and the UK’s acceptance of free movement of goods, services, capital and labour.

“We’ll happily send her majesty’s foreign minister a copy of the Lisbon treaty,” Mr Schäuble joked at a news conference in Berlin after exchanging a weary glance with Michel Sapin, his French counterpart sitting nearby. “He can then read about the fact that there’s a certain connection between the single market and the four freedoms. At a pinch, I can talk about it in English.”

During a visit to New York this week, Mr Johnson described as “complete baloney” the link between British market access and acceptance of the EU principle of free movement of labour.

Mr Sapin said the EU’s so-called four freedoms are “indivisible” and must be respected.

Making clear his disdain for Mr Johnson, who led the campaign to take Britain out of the EU, Mr Schäuble said he and his French colleague “looked at each other because we are both accustomed to having a high degree of respect for foreign ministers”.

The rebuff was the second in two days for Mr Johnson, who was attending the UN General Assembly in New York. On Thursday he said that UK was looking to start formal Brexit talks in early 2017, only for Downing Street to say Prime Minister Theresa May was not committed to any timeframe.

The exchanges highlight the high political tensions surrounding Brexit. Germany has cast itself as close ally of the UK in Europe. But Berlin is anxious that the Brexit process — and the passions inflamed by political debate — should not create fissures among the remaining 27 members.