Manufacturers want EU referendum

Manufacturing trade body EEF said that a referendum in 2016 would “head off” the creeping uncertainty which now exists for business and industry, suggesting it is not in the UK’s long-term interest to wait until 2017.

We can achieve reform by being an active and leading member from within

EEF chief executive Terry Scuoler

“Business and investors hate uncertainty and the longer this drags on the more damaging it will be,” said Terry Scuoler, chief executive of the EEF.

EEF research suggests that 85% of UK manufacturers would vote to stay in the EU, with the organisation calling on Prime Minister David Cameron to campaign positively for the UK to remain a leading member of the EU.

“British manufacturers remain overwhelmingly of the view that our economic wellbeing is linked to the EU and we must stay in membership,” Scuoler said.

“It makes no sense to disengage from our major market where we would still face all the costs of compliance and enjoy none of the influence.

“We can achieve reform by being an active and leading member from within.”

The call to retain EU membership was made by EEF ahead of the expected publication of a Referendum Bill as part of the Queen’s Speech this week.

Meanwhile, Confederation of British Industry (CBI) director-general John Cridland has called on business leaders to “speak out early” in favour of remaining within a reformed EU.

“I would never claim there is a uniform business view on this issue, and we respect the diversity of opinions,” Cridland said, in an article which first appeared in the Sunday Telegraph this week.

“However, I do speak for the majority of CBI members, who together employ nearly 7 million people about a third of the private-sector-employed workforce and most of those firms believe that our interests are best served in a reformed EU.”

As part of Sunday’s article, Cridland outlined five reasons why membership in a reformed EU would be a positive move for the UK economy.

Cridland cited an “access to the single market” of more than 500 million customers as being crucial for the fortunes of thousands of small and medium-sized firms.

Cridland also said that by staying in the EU, UK businesses could “plug skills shortages” through wider “access to talent”.

Meanwhile, Cridland suggested that being a part of the EU lets the UK set a trade agenda with its European allies, while strengthening The City [of London] and offering consumer choice.

“In recent days we’ve seen positive signs from Brussels, with progress on a digital single market to lower barriers to e-commerce and a rebooted agenda to cut the burden of business regulation on smaller firms,” Cridland said.

“But we need the EU to go further in making progress on completing the single market, including services; keeping momentum going on trade deal talks; and ensuring that Britain’s influence does not become diluted by the eurozone’s drive for greater integration.”