The Chemical Industry in the UK and in Europe welcomes the news that the negotiators have agreed on both a Brexit withdrawal agreement and future political declaration. Furthermore, we hope this can now be accepted by both Parliaments.
Steve Elliott, Chief Executive ofthe UK Chemical Industries Association,said: “Given where we were last week, I welcome the accord now reached. We willcontinue our work with UK Government, political parties and all stakeholders toensure the detail of the agreement and any future relationship supports thegrowth of our sector.
We will also continue to workclosely with the wider European industry so that we maintain the existing closerelationship within our sector, our customers and our suppliers throughoutEurope and beyond.
This deal – with its commitment toa free trade agreement avoiding tariffs and non-tariff barriers –represents an opportunity that we must now grab hold of, although we still seekreassurance that we can maintain a strong connection to the regulatoryframework of our biggest and most important market.
The deal will not be perfect foreveryone including ourselves. It is now for MPs and MEPs to decide what happensnext and in doing so, I hope they will take on board the points we have beenmaking for the past three years”.
Marco Mensink, Director General of the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) said: “We are pleased to see the explicit reference to the exploring of “the possibility of cooperation of United Kingdom authorities with Union agencies such as the European Chemicals Agency”, which is something that we have been advocating for a long time as Cefic and CIA.
We are looking forward to anorderly Brexit process that provides for a transition period followed by anambitious (trade) agreement.”