Our response to the new UK-EU agreement

Dame Carolyn Fairbairn DBE, CBI Director-General, said:

“If agreed by parliament, this deal unlocks a transition period, guarantees rights of the 4 million citizens living abroad in the UK and EU, and opens a pathway to a new EU/UK partnership. It would keep trade flowing freely across the island of Ireland and, most importantly, avoid a damaging no deal scenario.

“Yet business has serious concerns about the direction of the future UK-EU relationship. Decades of free and frictionless trade with the UK’s largest market, forged by thousands of firms big and small, must not be abandoned.

“Frictionless EU trade and regulatory alignment is vital for UK prosperity and jobs. The deal remains inadequate on services, which make up 80% of the UK economy. And big questions remain about the feasibility of negotiating a new trade agreement deep enough in a 14-month transition period.

“If this deal does pass Parliament, firms will do everything possible to make it work for communities across the UK. Business will continue to challenge the Government to negotiate the vital future partnership on the basis of economic evidence.”