The government are being urged by some of Britain’s largest transport manufacturers to provide certainty over the relationship between the UK and EU after Brexit.
Representatives of the car and aviation sectors said it is vital to know if the UK will maintain EU standards in manufacturing and are asking for a year to prepare for any changes.
Simon Brimble the head of the supply chain at Delphi Technologies, which makes parts for cars said, “Will we continue to have the same regulations as Europe, and … when will we know? Because we need to make preparations if that’s not the case.”
Speaking to peers on the Lords’ EU Goods Sub-Committee, Helen Foord, at French carmaker Groupe PSA, and Jill Adamson, from bus builder Alexander Dennis gave their thoughts.
Foord said her company are planning for both a free trade deal and a hard Brexit. She has asked that any changes are to be made gradual to help the sector find new suppliers.
Adamson said, “We cannot say whether we’re prepared or not, because we do not know what we’re preparing for.”
Brimble added, “We’ve taken measures within our business as we had to last year with the possibility of a hard Brexit, and we can dust those things off, but we really need the clarity to understand what we’re going towards, and then we can start to make the preparations.”
Paul Everitt, the chief executive of ADS, who are the trade body for the aerospace, defence, security and space industries, said, “Our number one priority for the past four years has been to ensure the UK’s continued membership of the European Aviation Safety Agency, because we believe it’s one of the most important mechanisms to secure future success.”
He added, “We would want to understand [government’s] rationale for not seeking to continue to be part of the the European Aviation Safety Agency.”
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