Brexit : Britain has no future guarantee for businessmen

Brexit-1

Brexit

Theresa May, British PM

Britain cannot tell businesses for certain what its future relationship with the EU will be once it leaves the bloc, Business Minister Greg Clark has said.

Clark said this on Wednesday, ahead of government talks on its approach to Brexit.

Businesses want more clarity from the government over what Britain’s trade and customs arrangements with the EU would look like after it leaves the bloc in 2019.

Prime Minister Theresa May is meeting senior ministers later to discuss the government’s negotiating strategy, as the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) called on the government to clarify what it wants from Brexit.

However, in an interview with the BBC, Clark gave no details of the end-state Britain was seeking, or a deadline by which government would finalise its approach.

“This is a negotiation which is about to happen.

“We can’t guarantee an end-state until it has been agreed by both sides,’’ Clark told BBC radio.

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Britain has agreed in principle with the EU to have an implementation period, which is expected to be finalised in March.

“However, the EU wants the power to restrict British access to the single market during the transition period as a way to punish London if it violates agreed rules,’’ a European Commission document showed.

The BCC said that while it would welcome a transition period, continued ambiguity as to where the relationship with the EU was headed would hinder firms as they make investment and hiring decisions.

“To clear UK negotiating objectives are crucial to both business and public confidence, while the BCC has campaigned strongly in favour of a status-quo transition period to give businesses time to plan for change.

“This transition must lead to a clear endpoint,’’ the BCC said in an open letter to government.

Many businesses fear Britain could face a disorderly Brexit that would weaken the West, disrupt the peace in Northern Ireland, imperil Britain’s 2.7 trillion dollars economy and undermine London’s position as the only financial center to rival New York.

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