Euro trio calls for Brexit chemical industry guarantees
19 Mar 2018
Two of the leading chemical industries bodies in Europe and a leading continental trade union have issued a joint statement calling for guarantees to maintain trading between the UK and EU post-Brexit.
The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), The European Chemical Employers Group (ECEG), and European Trade Union outlined key conditions for the future.
These included:
- An appropriate transition period with “pragmatic and workable arrangements on legal jurisdiction and dispute resolution”
- A smooth trading relationship to minimise disruption for the UK and 27 other EU member states
- Continued ease of flow of goods and free movement of employees
- Strategies to maintain investment opportunities
- Regulatory consistency.
With approximately 3.3 million direct employees in more than 94,000 enterprises, the sector is one of the largest in the EU.
Head of Cefic, Marco Mensink, representing 29,000 large, medium and small chemical companies in Europe, which provide 1.2 million jobs and account for 17% of world chemicals production, called on both sets of Brexit negotiators to work together.
ECEG director general Emma Argutyan remarked: “Our goal is to preserve and further develop effective industrial relations and to contribute constructively to the economic and social challenges ahead.”
Luc Triangle, ETU secretary-general, Europe said a Brexit deal would need to protect “the European chemical industry and its workers across Europe”.
