Brexit agreement provides industry what it needs: clarity and certainty
Date
04 Dec 2018
Sections
UK in Europe
Ceemet, European Tech & Industry employers, welcomes the endorsement by EU leaders yesterday, 25th November 2018, of the agreement reached by negotiators on the terms of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, and the Political Declaration on the future relationship.
The ambitious objectives set out in the future relationship, aligned with the stability ensured by the withdrawal agreement, finally sees business on both sides of the channel given the clarity and certainty they so badly require. Nonetheless, this is only a first step.
Speaking on the announcement of the deal, Ceemet Director General Uwe Combüchen stated “We believe the agreed text sets out a close post-Brexit relationship. It goes some way to ensure the protection of the globally integrated supply chains and ensuring a level playing field in regulation.”
This agreement takes another step towards avoiding a ‘no deal’ cliff edge scenario which would be catastrophic for European tech & industry companies whose business model has been built up around integrated supply chains.
There still remains much negotiation to be done in the future relationship. “There is no time to rest on our laurels”, comments Uwe Combüchen. The most recent amendment to the withdrawal agreement sees the timeframe for the transition period limited to a maximum of two years. Once again, time is of the essence.
While Ceemet appreciates the possible extension of the transition period beyond 21 months, as called for in its October Council statement, this is by no means a ‘done deal’.
The Ceemet Director General calls negotiators to “redouble their efforts to ensure we don’t see two years of further uncertainty for EU manufacturers.”
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