The CBI and 71 trade associations and professional bodies representing 190,000 businesses and 7 million employees are calling for politicians on both sides to carve a path towards a deal.
Sectors from automotive to aviation, chemicals to creative industries, and farming and food to pharmaceuticals – are united: securing a quick agreement matters greatly for jobs and livelihoods. Clarity on an ambitious deal will turbo charge business preparations and increase confidence in the U.K. as a place to invest. Crucially, it will also help ease the sustainable implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The statement below is accompanied by details from 21 trade associations and professional bodies outlining how a deal will help their sector contribute fully to the UK’s economic recovery. It follows an intervention earlier this week by leading European business groups from France, Germany and Italy, calling for ‘a solution which ensures smooth trading conditions’
The joint statement starts:
“Now is the time for historic political leadership. With compromise and tenacity, a deal can be done. Businesses call on leaders on both sides to find a route through.
“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. And it will catalyse confidence through enhanced customs cooperation while making a precious data agreement possible, vital for services industries which make up 80% of the UK economy.
“Businesses are doing what they can to prepare for Brexit. But firms face a hat-trick of unprecedented challenges: rebuilding from the first wave of COVID-19, dealing with the second and uncertainty over the UK’s trading relationship with the EU.
“That’s why more than three quarters of UK firms say they need a deal, quickly.
“With each day that passes, business resilience is chipped away. A swift deal is the single most effective way to support recovery in communities across Europe.
“After four years of debate, there must be a resolution. 2021 can then be a year to rebuild, rather than regret.”
Caroline Norbury, CEO of Creative Industries Federation, representing the creative industries sector and 2.1 million jobs said:
“The EU is a major market for the UK’s creative industries, with the UK exporting £15.4 billion in creative service exports to the EU each year. More than that, access to world-leading creative talent and the ability for the UK’s creative practitioners to tour the EU without undue cost or red tape has been a major contributor to the success of the UK’s creative industries, enabling the sector to grow five times as fast as the wider economy. Securing a deal will not only provide our world-leading sector with a level of certainty in what are highly uncertain times, it will enable the UK’s creative industries to remain highly competitive, innovative and able to drive the UK’s economic, social and cultural regeneration as we move forward.””
The CBI-led letter to Government urges the Government to secure a deal with the EU before the end of the year in order to protect UK businesses and employment. The letter has received significant media attention and highlights that we are running out of time and that swift deal is the single most effective way to support recovery from the impact of Coronavirus on the UK economy.
Further Brexit Updates
An Update on the EU Transition period from DCMS
This newsletter contains:
• A letter from HMRC to businesses on preparing for the end of the transition period
• Updated information on CITES; and
• Information on .eu domain names and on the eCommerce Directive.
Read it here: Newsletter Transition Period 20201019.
Time is Running Out Campaign:
Somewhat mirroring the call from UK industry that time is running out for the UK Government to reach a deal with the EU, the Government has launched a new campaign to warn businesses that “Time is Running Out” for businesses to prepare for the UK to leave the EU. The Government is urging business leaders to step up preparations for an “Australia-style” exit – which roughly translates as a “No Deal” Brexit.
This has been followed-up by Michael Gove reading a statement to the House this afternoon informing MPs that the UK will have to prepare to trade with the EU on WTO terms from January, which reflects comments made by the Prime Minister on Friday
HMRC Letters to VAT registered companies
HMRC has written to all VAT registered companies to explain what they need to do to prepare for new processes for moving goods between Great Britain and the EU from 1 January 2021, including:
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- making sure they have a UK Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number
- deciding how they will make customs declarations
- checking if their imported goods are eligible for staged import controls
These actions will not change regardless of the outcome of the government’s negotiations with the EU.