European business sets priorities for the future EU-UK relationship
Negotiators need to work towards an agreement that works for business
Today, BusinessEurope published its position paper on the future EU-UK relations. European business wants to maintain strong economic ties and keep a close economic relationship while preserving the integrity of the Single Market.
BusinessEurope Director General Markus J. Beyrer said: “EU-UK trade must remain tariff and quota free and non-tariff barriers must be minimised. We also need ambitious provisions covering among others trade in services, investment, data flows and government procurement. Divergence in rules should be avoided to maintain barrier-free trade. Continuous regulatory cooperation and mutual recognition will be crucial to mitigate disruption also in the long term.”
He added: “European business is ready to play an active role during the negotiations. We expect a high level of ambition on both sides but there is limited time to achieve a comprehensive EU-UK trade agreement. Therefore, the transition period needs to be used efficiently in order to finalise, ratify and implement the agreement in time. But if it becomes evident that the time available does not suffice, both sides should be open to finding pragmatic solutions that prevent cliff edge by the end of 2020.”
