Brexit strategy rethink urged by the manufacturers’ organisation, EEF

After the general election results last week, leaving Britain with a minority Conservative government, the manufacturers’ organisation, EEF, has called for a Brexit strategy rethink, highlighting single market access and a customs union to be at the heart of it.

The EEF believes that unless adjustments to the Brexit strategy are made, businesses will look to move plans away from the UK as a result of the political instability. Additionally, the EEF had performed a survey before the election that demonstrated, companies were changing or at least considering a change to business plans in response to the UK leaving the EU. According to the results of the survey, nearly a quarter of manufacturers had already reviewed their business strategy and are planning to make changes depending on Brexit deal terms, almost half are waiting to see the deal terms before deciding on whether to make changes or not, whereas only a fifth planned no changes to their business strategy.

“The new government’s priorities must radically re-focus Brexit negotiations around trade and close cooperation ensuring a smooth exit from the EU,” said Terry Scuoler, chief executive of EEF. “There are numerous ways of establishing a new relationship with the EU and, given we’ve just wasted a year, the government needs to move away from its previous rhetoric and start repairing relations with EU partners.

“This means putting access to the single market and a form of customs union at the heart of a revised strategy, and removing the shibboleths created around a hard Brexit, which businesses know would be highly damaging for Britain. The UK can surely manage who is and who is not in the country by introducing a more effective and robust form of immigration control which maintains the rights of EU citizens and UK citizens’ across Europe.

“With less than two years to negotiate a meaningful deal, the government should commit to a significant period of transition to manage uncertainty for businesses and bolster confidence. Business groups can help with the negotiations over trade, which is the model every other government involved in trade negotiations operates, and we need to be brought in quickly to do this. We need to build a political consensus based on our collective national interest,” he added.