If the British government can’t find a majority in its lower house this month, then the Brexit process should be stopped, said Joachim Lang, director of the Federation of German Industries, in a statement last week. Stopping the process would be better than an unregulated Brexit with massive economic damage.

“British politicians should not postpone decisions anymore”, Lang said. “All the options are on the table. It would be absurd for the United Kingdom to slide into a hard Brexit in four weeks’ time, one that even the majority in London’s Parliament rejects”.

However, companies must still prepare for a hard Brexit, Lang said. Although its impact would still be felt, with the UK economy likely slipping into a recession. Germany would be affected as well.

“If worst comes to worst, we expect the German economy to experience a setback that would cost us at least half a percentile of the GDP,” he said. “That means 17 billion euros less economic power in this year alone.”