The UK car industry's main trade body, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), met EU representatives in Brussels yesterday to try and spell out the damage that a no-deal Brexit would cause to UK car manufacturing (HERE). The SMMT's Chief Executive, Mike Hawes said in a press statement that "the auto sector would not work if there were delays at the border, adding that this would require car makers to have unfeasibly large warehouses to store components".
He went on:
“Our industry is deeply integrated across both sides of the Channel, so we look to negotiators to recognise the needs of the whole European automotive industry and act swiftly to avoid disruption and damage,”
Hawes emphasised how integrated the British auto industry is with the rest of Europe, with 1,100 trucks per day bringing in parts for UK vehicle factories.
'We cannot afford a ‘no deal’ Brexit. That is the worst of the imaginable options for this industry,' he told a briefing in Brussels late on Tuesday".
On the same day, Theresa May has a piece in Die Welt (HERE) which the sub editor has subtitled: May warns EU not to treat UK unfairly in Brexit talks. In it, she talks about avoiding a hard border in Ireland and she helpfully explains this means the, "frictionless movement of goods". But then she says this is not the same thing as "partial participation in the Single Market: British companies would not enjoy the same legal rights, for example".
This frictionless movement that Mrs May talks of is exactly the same thing that the SMMT are asking for. She goes on:
“Our industry is deeply integrated across both sides of the Channel, so we look to negotiators to recognise the needs of the whole European automotive industry and act swiftly to avoid disruption and damage,”
Hawes emphasised how integrated the British auto industry is with the rest of Europe, with 1,100 trucks per day bringing in parts for UK vehicle factories.
'We cannot afford a ‘no deal’ Brexit. That is the worst of the imaginable options for this industry,' he told a briefing in Brussels late on Tuesday".
On the same day, Theresa May has a piece in Die Welt (HERE) which the sub editor has subtitled: May warns EU not to treat UK unfairly in Brexit talks. In it, she talks about avoiding a hard border in Ireland and she helpfully explains this means the, "frictionless movement of goods". But then she says this is not the same thing as "partial participation in the Single Market: British companies would not enjoy the same legal rights, for example".
This frictionless movement that Mrs May talks of is exactly the same thing that the SMMT are asking for. She goes on:
"So that frictionless movement is at the heart of the new proposals we put forward this summer.
"A UK-EU free trade area for goods and agricultural products, together with a business-friendly facilitated customs arrangement, would avoid the need for customs and regulatory checks at our shared borders and protect the uniquely integrated supply chains and just-in-time processes on which jobs and livelihoods across our countries depend. It is profoundly in both sides’ economic interest, it respects the integrity of the Single Market and, crucially, no one else has come up with a proposal that could command cross-community support in Northern Ireland that is the only true foundation for stability there".
At least she recognises the need for frictionless trade which is something.
At least she recognises the need for frictionless trade which is something.
But using a Common Rule Book for goods as the basis of the UK-EU free trade area and the Facilitated Customs Arrangement is not the answer. Both of these have been dismissed by the EU. We are now in the bizarre position of having taken thirty five years from 1957 to 1992 before the EU finally managed to create the mechanisms to give frictionless trade across the European continent. The mechanisms were the CU followed by the single market. Nothing else, including a Canadian style free trade deal, will deliver the same outcome.
But Mrs May wants to obtain what we have now (frictionless trade) in less than two years by a different and completely new and untried route . A route that does not exist at the moment and which may never exist. And all while exposing the entire UK car industry to serious risk.
She genuinely thinks the EU are going to redesign the single market and the customs union to accommodate us.
No wonder the rest of Europe look at us as if we're mad.
