BRITISH companies have seen stronger growth in exports to the EU than to North America and Asia in the last two years, according to a new survey.
The Institute of Directors’ snapshot of almost 800 company directors found more than two out of five company bosses found most business growth in the EU compared to just one in five citing North America or Asia. Two thirds of those polled exported goods, up seven per cent on 2013.
Allie Renison of the IoD said: "The immediate focus should be on reaching a successful deal with the EU that puts maintaining market access at the heart of its priorities. Steadying the ship will enable the UK to navigate a clear path to a truly global future.
"The importance of the EU as a growth market for IoD members combined with the clear advantage that business leaders see in new trade agreements shows just how eager businesses are to embrace global Britain.”
Ms Renison, head of Europe and trade policy at the IoD, said the statistics showed the UK had to “get real about trade and fast”.
"Going global is as much about opportunities in Europe as it is further afield and this should be reflected in how the Government shapes post-Brexit Britain," she added.
The pro-EU Open Britain seized on the survey. A leading supporter, Labour’s Chris Leslie, said: “Ministers seem prepared to jeopardise trade with our largest trading partner in pursuit of fantasy trade deals around the world but it is increasingly clear that this is a huge mistake.
“In fact, business leaders believe Europe is the region with the best prospects for UK export growth over the next five years.”
Mr Leslie, the former Shadow Chancellor, added: “We currently have the best of both worlds: frictionless trade with Europe and extensive trade links with the rest of the world, including trade deals with more than 65 countries. Given this, everyone is right to keep an open mind as to whether Brexit is the right path for our country to be on.”
Meanwhile, new figures show that the number of UK nationals granted citizenship of another EU country more than doubled in 2016.
A total of 6,555 applications were approved in 2016 - the year of the Brexit vote - up from 2,478 in 2015.
It is the highest number since records began in 2002, according to the EU statistics body Eurostat.
Some 41 per cent of applications were for German citizenship, 15 per cent were for Swedish citizenship and 10 per cent for Dutch.
Jonathan Portes, Professor of Economics at King's College, London, said: "The increase in Britons acquiring the nationality of other EU countries is obviously driven by the prospect of Brexit, which is very likely to make UK citizenship much less useful for working, living and travelling elsewhere in the EU.
"It would be very surprising if this trend did not continue," he added.
During a whistlestop visit to Denmark and Sweden to talk Brexit, Theresa May signalled her Government's goal of cutting net annual immigration below 100,000 would remain in place after Brexit.
The Prime Minister said she wanted to "continue to work to ensure that we address that particular target" after she was asked whether it would still be in place after Britain left the EU.
"I recognise that UK citizens will still want to come and study and work in countries in the EU 27 like Denmark, and EU citizens like Danish citizens will still want to come and work and study in the UK," she explained.
Addressing a press conference inside Christiansborg Castle alongside her Danish counterpart Lars Rasmussen, Mrs May said the pair had discussed the "key questions that remain to be resolved" over Brexit as well as "our future economic and security partnership".
"As I have said before, I am ambitious for the scale and the scope of this relationship and I want to ensure we maintain the closest possible links with our European allies,” said the PM.
"I understand that future arrangements for Denmark's fishing industry are of particular interest to you and, as an independent coastal state, we will want to ensure fair and reciprocal access to waters," she said.
Mr Rasmussen warned Britain’s decision to quit the single market "comes with a price tag" for both Britain and Denmark.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel