This is what businesses want post-Brexit

According to the CBI

Businesses across Europe want the closest possible economic relationship post-Brexit, according to the CBI.

Our fates are intertwined with over 600bn euros in trade each year, the CBI Director-General Carolyn Fairbairn said.

Ahead of the EU Summit this weekend, the CBI is highlighting the very real shared interest in securing an ambitious deal between the UK and EU, rather than focussing solely on the divorce settlement at this early stage. 

With supply chains connected across the Continent, UK-EU trade is worth well over 600 billion euros each year. Compared to a one-off departure bill of, some suggest tens of billions of euros, the economic case for making rapid progress on a trade agreement is clear.

In a speech at Cambridge University, Fairbairn, will say:

On the UK and the EU’s shared future

“We have an overwhelming shared interest in building the trading relationships which will define our shared future. This is not a zero-sum game.

“In today’s inter-connected economy which relies on supply chains crossing borders and nations, our fates are intertwined.

“With a good agreement, European businesses can win together. The business community – in the UK and the EU – is united in wanting an agreement with as few barriers as possible. Yet without an agreement, we’d lose together.

“For both sides, leaving the negotiating table without a deal shouldn’t be ‘Plan B’ but ‘Plan Z’. Whether it’s tariffs or regulation, a no deal scenario would have chilling effects on both sides of the Channel.

“At the CBI, we’ve been meeting our peer business organisations from across Europe, convening a clear, European business voice and making these messages heard.”