For now, the initiative has no party backing. Mr Henkel is joined by two former heads of the BDI, Germany’s equivalent of the CBI, and Hans-Werner Sinn, one of Germany’s leading economists. “The EU’s unwillingness to curtail the social inclusion principle for EU migrants, as demanded by Prime Minister Cameron, has contributed to the disastrous Brexit decision for Europe,” Prof Sinn said. “There is much to suggest that Cameron was right with his request.” Prof Sinn said benefits should be paid by EU citizens’ home countries even if they moved to another member state. “It wasn’t only Britain deciding to leave the EU, it was the EU which decided to leave Britain,” Mr Henkel said. “We need Britain as a counterweight to Juncker and Barnier, and the people who want a ’United States of Europe’. We don’t want that, we want an EU of sovereign nations.”
Seven German businessmen are committed to preventing Britain's exit from the EU. The group is made up of seven prominent businessmen, including a former chairman and chief executive of Deutsche Bank, as well as two members of Germany's ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU).