EURIS, the engineering equipment manufacturers’ taskforce believes that a five year transition period for the full implementation of Brexit is necessary, to minimise economic disruption to UK manufacturing companies outside the EU.
It believes an extended period beyond March 2019 would allow industry to develop new relationships and solutions with respect to the comprehensive and complex nature of European legislation and related standards. It is understood that such a transition period would need to be agreed as part of the negotiations, but EURIS encourages all parties to work towards this end.
Without such a transition period, UK Government risks a situation where failure to reach an agreement would result in barriers to trade for UK companies that import from or export to the EU.
EURIS manufacturers maintain that the structure of the single market and customs union should remain intact, allowing businesses to operate in the current efficient and seamless manner. In addition, the status of EU nationals employed in the UK should be guaranteed to provide certainty and continuity of skilled labour.
Today marks a year since Britain’s referendum decision to leave the European Union, and the leaving negotiations have started this week. Both industry and citizens await details of the legal and trading changes that leaving the EU will bring.
Donald Tusk, President of the European Council
