European Chambers call for clarity as the United Kingdom leaves the European Union
Publicat pe 31/01/2020
Bucharest, January 31, 2020: The European Association of Chambers of Commerce & Industry (EUROCHAMBRES) representing 20 million businesses, regrets that the United Kingdom is today officially leaving the European Union.
In this sense, EUROCHAMBRES and, implicitly, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR) urge political leaders now to strive for swift clarity on the future EU-UK relationship and provide a clear path for the negotiations in order to avoid another cliff edge scenario at the end of the year.
Both sides must now fully respect the agreed transition period until 31 December 2020, in order to avoid any possible trade friction during the next 11 months.
In this context, Mr. Mihai Daraban, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania, stated: The United Kingdom is the country with which Romania has the largest trade surplus and represents the fifth export destination for Romanian products. Amidst the controversies generated by Brexit over the last 3 years, bilateral trade exchanges had a fluctuating evolution, reasons for which CCIR will strongly support the approval of a favourable agreement for the business community in the shortest time possible, preferably until the end of 2020.
Christoph Leitl, President of EUROCHAMBRES, stated: Today is a sad day for the European business community, as a close friend and partner is leaving the European political family. But this does not and should not mean that Britain will sever its economic ties with the EU.
Regarding the decision of the UK to leave the EU, President Christoph Leitl stressed the position of the European chamber network and said: We have no time to waste, and the EU and UK must come forward with clear negotiation mandates on the aims and objectives to minimize uncertainty for business on both sides of the Channel. This should not, however, come at a price of hasty solutions that prove unworkable in practice for our businesses, especially SMEs.
European chambers of commerce and industry stress that the new European standard of transparency and inclusiveness in the negotiation process with third country partners must also apply to the negotiations with the UK. In this sense, business and the wider stakeholder community must be duly informed and consulted throughout the process.
For further information about BREXIT, please check the official website of CCIR: https://ccir.ro/ccir-informs-invites-dialogue-business-people-facing-difficulties-generated-brexit/