Frankfurt/Brussels, 27 February 2023 – Holger Kunze, Head of the VDMA's European Office in Brussels, has this to say about the agreement sought in the dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol:

 "It is pleasing that with the top-level meeting between EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a breakthrough on the Northern Ireland Protocol is finally in sight. Three years after Brexit, it is now really time to resolve the permanent conflict and the ongoing uncertainties. Companies urgently need clear rules on dealing with Northern Ireland so that the movement of goods can run as smoothly as possible without undermining the EU's single market. Above all, the deal would finally bring peace and normality to UK-EU relations. Reliable conditions for trade with the UK are a basic prerequisite for both European and British industry to develop economic relations positively even after Brexit.

The UK remains an important market for the mechanical engineering industry and currently ranks 6th among the leading export countries for mechanical and plant engineering from Germany." 

A photo of Holger Kunze, Head of VDMA European Office, can be found here.

VDMA represents more than 3,500 German and European machinery and equipment manufacturing companies. The industry stands for innovation, export orientation and SMEs. The companies employ around 3 million people in the EU-27, more than 1.2 million of them in Germany alone. This makes mechanical and plant engineering the largest employer among the capital goods industries, both in the EU-27 and in Germany. In the European Union, it represents a turnover volume of an estimated 770 billion euros. Around 80 percent of the machinery sold in the EU comes from a manufacturing plant in the domestic market.