Signatory – the MTA’s James Selka. Joint declaration – BDI president Prof Dieter Kempf
The CBI, Make UK and dozens of other trade associations and professional bodies are calling on politicians on both sides of the EU-UK negotiations to secure an agreement.
The unanimous view is that clarity on an ambitious deal will turbocharge business preparations and increase confidence in the UK as a place to invest, the organisations say.
Sectors from automotive to aviation, chemicals to creative industries, and farming to pharmaceuticals called on leaders on both sides “to find a route through”.
A joint statement from the CBI and 71 other bodies said: “Now is the time for historic political leadership. With compromise and tenacity, a deal can be done. The clarity that comes with an ambitious deal will have an instant impact on firms’ efforts to prepare. It will help investment by removing the threat of tariffs and quotas.”
It added: “Businesses are doing what they can to prepare for Brexit”, but were facing a triple challenge of rebuilding from the first wave of Covid-19 while dealing with the second, combined with uncertainty over the UK’s trading relationship with the EU.
“With each day that passes, business resilience is chipped away. After four years of debate, there must be a resolution. 2021 can then be a year to rebuild, rather than regret,” the statement concluded.
After the government said on Monday that there was “no basis to resume talks”, a joint statement on Wednesday from Make UK and its European sister organisation CEEMET called on politicians to “get back to the negotiating table” and “ensure that we avoid the disaster of an exit without a deal”.
The statement said: “A no-deal scenario with our most critical trading partner, the EU, would be disastrous for manufacturing and for the millions more employed in supporting industries both here in the UK and across the EU. The impacts would go far beyond disruptions in trade at the border. Families and communities would be left hanging in the balance.”
It added that the Covid crisis had made it impossible to fully prepare for the changes coming in January. “Should we face the challenge of an acrimonious exit without a deal, businesses in the UK and Europe are united in the view that they are not and cannot be ready for the disruption that we face.”
A joint declaration on the eve of last week’s EU summit from the presidents of Medef, Confindustria and the BDI, the leading European business groups in France, Germany and Italy, said “the risk of a no deal is real”. This would “lead to cascading consequences for our businesses as well as for our citizens: customs duties, controls, bureaucracy, delays, blockages, outsourcing and so on.”
It continued: “Our companies are devoting all their energy to limiting and correcting the health, social and economic effects of the Covid crisis. A brutal split between continental Europe and the UK would add further to the difficulties and would undermine tens of thousands of jobs and activities in all our countries. We solemnly call on the negotiators on both sides of the Channel to do their utmost to conclude an ambitious and comprehensive agreement in time to allow for ratification and entering into force by 1 January 2021, in the mutual interest of the European Union and the United Kingdom.”
Signatories to the joint CBI statement included the Chemical Industries Association, the Food and Drink Federation, the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA), the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and the ADS Group.
A full list of signatories can be seen at https://www.cbi.org.uk/media-centre/articles/covid-hit-businesses-call-for-pragmatic-approach-to-secure-historic-uk-eu-agreement-cbi-trade-associations/ and www.makeuk.org/news-and-events/news/britains-manufacturers-and-their-european-industry-counterparts