Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has told a number of European publications that a no-deal Brexit would also be bad news for the EU.
Fairbairn was interviewed by newspapers including Le Monde (France), Corriere della Sera (Italy) and Der Standard (Austria), earlier this week.
According to Fairbairn, Brexit negotiations between the EU and the UK are "the most important that Europe has known since the end of WWII".
For the head of the business interest group, the threat of a no-deal Brexit should also scare Europeans, as she stated that "1.2 million jobs are at risk across the EU" in such a scenario.
The head of the CBI also warned of an unexpected rise in tariffs between the EU and the UK, with more than 180,000 SMEs saying don't have the resources to face the new regulations that would arise from a lack of any deal between the EU and the UK.
Her comments follow a recent report by Britain's Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which found that 70% of the SMEs polled did not have any contingency plans of any sort.
On the back of statements such as these, and given the efforts by UK retailers to insulate themselves from the worst trading effects of Brexit - Tesco's alliance with Carrefour being an example - it seems that the industry is preparing itself for a worst-case scenario when it comes to Brexit.
The uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the future of trade between the UK and the EU has also been cited as a top concern by trade associations, and has already started to weigh on the financial results of the biggest European business. [Pic source: CBI Flickr]
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Matthieu Chassain. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
