As negotiations on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (see other article) began, on Monday 19 June, BusinessEurope, the European organisation that represents the interests of businesses, called on the negotiators of both sides to reach an agreement on Brexit as quickly as possible, so as to be able to focus on the transitional agreements before setting in place the future definitive commercial framework.
Markus Beyrer, Director General of BusinessEurope, stressed the need to make rapid progress in the negotiations and highlighted the “constructive” role his organisation might play in this, in order to establish a “sound and balanced” new model for relations between the EU and the United Kingdom.
Within this framework, without going into details, the organisation made six demands: - preserving the integrity of the single market; - maintaining close economic relations between the EU and the UK; - a smooth transition towards a future trade agreement, to allow business to prepare and adjust to the new economic situation; - the need to mitigate the adverse effects of Brexit; - providing legal certainty as soon as possible by delivering “achievable” solutions in a “reasonable and predictable” period of time; - the involvement of all relevant stakeholders – including economic actors – to tackle issues relating to customs duties, market access and “regulatory convergence”.
The consequences of Brexit for the British and European economies will certainly be substantial, according to studies into the matter. The European Parliament's committee on the internal market and consumer protection (IMCO) published a study earlier this year, detailing the sectors that are likely to be affected (see EUROPE 11723). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)