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Angela Merkel thrives on her role as a broker, constantly playing different alternatives against each other depending on the issue at hand. This time Merkel tended towards the Northern bloc, in large part because she agreed with them, and because the UK had marshalled a group of allies, Germany could still lay claim to the political centre of gravity. Looking at it from Germany, of course, the UK provided a valuable counterweight which meant Merkel could come at as the dealmaker and get more or less what she wanted. This is also why she needs the UK in the EU.