ZCZC
BCN-22
GERMAN-INDUSTRY-BREXIT-DEAL
German industry association rejects renegotiation of Brexit deal
BERLIN, Aug. 22, 2019 (BSS/Xinhua) – The Federation of German Industries
(BDI) spoke out on Wednesday against renegotiating the agreement between the
European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK).
“The UK Prime Minister’s demand that the withdrawal agreement be reopened
is irresponsible,” said BDI Director General Joachim Lang.
The withdrawal agreement held “enormous importance for the German
economy,” Lang stressed.
German companies relied on “as little friction as possible in foreign
trade, stable conditions at the external borders and security in matters
relating to workers,” added Lang.
Lang emphasized that German industry supported the the government and
European Commission in standing by the negotiated treaty, and urged Brussels
and London to “set the right course in order to avert the threat of hard
Brexit.”
Brexit has already been leaving its mark on UK-German trade for a while,
according to Berthold Busch, senior economist for European Integration at the
German Economic Institute.
The Institute found that while German exports of goods to the EU rose by
more than 12 percent between 2015 and 2018, its exports to the UK fell by 7.8
percent.
The decline was particularly pronounced for motor vehicles and
pharmaceutical products, which “suggests that the value chains in these
particularly closely interwoven branches of industry are already being
restructured at the expense of the United Kingdom,” Busch said.
The new UK government was conducting “irresponsible politics” by ignoring
such negative developments and instead, UK policy continued to pursue its
strategy of “whatever the cost,” said Busch.
Lang noted that during this “sensitive phase, the existing concerns in the
economy should be exacerbated. Our companies now have no choice but to
continue to prepare for a hard Brexit on 31 October.”
Only the European Commission could ensure that internal market rules would
be respected at the Irish border in the long-term, which would require a
backstop to avoid border posts between Northern Ireland, which is part of the
UK, and the EU state of Ireland.
These comments were made as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to meet
German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Wednesday evening.
Johnson had made a public commitment to lead Britain out of the EU on Oct.
31 with or without an agreement.
BSS/XINHUA/HR/