BERLIN, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel has regretted that British House of Commons rejected the negotiated Brexit deal with Brussels, but said on Wednesday that there's still time to negotiate.
"We still have time to negotiate," Merkel said before a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German parliament in Berlin on Wednesday.
"We believe that it is up to the British side to tell us what to do next," Merkel said, adding that British Prime Minister Theresa May also had "already announced this".
Merkel believes that the British rejection will cause damage "in any cases" but stressed that the German government wants to "keep the damage as small as possible".
On Thursday the German government will present to the German parliament the laws that would apply if no agreement with Britain on its withdrawal from the European Union is reached.
On Tuesday evening, the British House of Commons voted by a large majority against the withdrawal agreement that British Prime Minister May had agreed with the EU.
If no agreement is reached by March 29, it is possible that Britain will withdraw without any agreement.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called on the British side to clarify their position as quickly as possible. According to Maas, the rejection of the EU offer had only shown what the British do not want. "The time for games is now over," Maas told Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday.
Economics Minister Peter Altmaier reminded all sides involved of the potential damage from an unregulated British withdrawal from the EU. "Everyone in Europe would lose," Altmaier told German public broadcaster ZDF, but made clear that the British would suffer particularly from a No-Deal-Brexit.
Although Germany is preparing the case in which no orderly solution is found, Chancellor Merkel assured that "of course, we will continue to try to find an orderly solution".
