Thursday 11 April 2019

Responding to the European Union’s decision last night (10 April) on Brexit, David Frost, Chief Executive, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry said:

“Many businesses will be relieved that the Government has persuaded the EU to avoid a sudden Brexit tomorrow night. Indeed, as a former EU negotiator myself, I do not underestimate how difficult it will have been to convince the EU to continue to put their trust in the UK political process. But last night’s decision comes at the price of even greater uncertainty.

There is no longer a fixed date for our exit from the EU at all. It now depends on the vagaries of our Parliamentary process and, potentially, on the European Council’s own review of the situation in June. All this makes planning even more difficult for businesses.

Moreover, a no deal exit is still possible at the end of October and whether it happens is not entirely in the Government’s hands. So it is important that the Government continues to provide practical help to ensure firms can be ready. We at the LCCI are doing all we can to assist.

One specific measure the Government could consider to help businesses would be to proactively issue EORI numbers to all VAT-registered traders, rather than wait for every company to register individually.”

Get a UK EORI number to trade within the EU: www.gov.uk/guidance/get-a-uk-eori-number-to-trade-within-the-eu

ENDS

Media contact
Steven Reilly-Hii
T: +44 (0)207 203 1897
M: +44 (0)7827 241528
E: sreilly-hii@londonchamber.co.uk