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TEHRAN, June 23 - Auto giant BMW has joined plane-maker Airbus in warning that uncertainty about Britain’s exit from the European Union is forcing it to reconsider investment in the UK.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The German car manufacturer warned on Friday that uncertainty about Brexit was affecting the investment climate in Britain and clarity regarding the issue was needed by the end of the summer.
"If we don't get clarity in the next couple of months we have to start making those contingency plans... which means making the UK less competitive than it is in a very competitive world right now," said Ian Robertson, special representative of the BMW Group in the UK.
"That is a decisive issue that ultimately could damage this industry," he added.
The auto giant had previously warned about the damage of Brexit uncertainty. BMW’s chief executive Harald Krueger said last month that the company had to remain "flexible" about production facilities.
BMW employs about 8,000 people across the UK.
Earlier in the day, aviation giant Airbus threatened in a risk assessment report that it could leave the United Kingdom if the country exits the European Union (EU) without a transition agreement.
The European plane-maker warned that London’s departure from the EU’s single market and customs union immediately and without a transition deal would lead to "severe disruption and interruption of UK production.”
"This scenario would force Airbus to reconsider its investments in the UK, and its long-term footprint in the country,” it said.
Airbus also warned that a no-deal Brexit could have “catastrophic consequences” for its production plans and put thousands of British jobs at risk.
Airbus directly employs 14,000 people in Britain and supports more than 100,000 jobs in a wider supply chain in the country.
The British government has faced fierce criticism both at home and by the EU for its lack of clarity on its Brexit strategy.
n Britain’s 2016 referendum, 52 percent, or 17.4 million people, voted to leave the EU while 48 percent, or 16 million, voted to stay.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s government is divided over Brexit. She campaigned for a “remain” vote in 2016, but now insists Britain will leave on March 29, 2019 and there will be no rerun of the Brexit referendum.
Source: Presstv
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