Irish business lobby Ibec says new EU Brexit negotiating guidelines reinforce the need for an early agreement on UK exit terms.
These agreements need to be in place in order to allow substantial trade talks to begin, the group stated.
The business lobby welcomed the significant achievement in the explicit recognition of the unique risks that Brexit poses to Ireland, but urged the government to work closely with business to overcome the considerable challenges ahead.
"The EU guidelines clearly provide scope for trade negotiations to start long before a UK exit," said Ibec CEO Danny McCoy.
Ibec cautioned that a massive and dangerous gap existed between current UK objectives and what was realistically possible within the parameters of the EU guidelines.
"Political posturing needs to give way to pragmatism, and this needs to happen quickly. A far-reaching free trade deal with minimal trade barriers is the goal, but fair competition must also underpin any new relationship," said McCoy.
Ibec's Guide To Brexit
Ibec is providing contingency planning support and has published a guide to managing Brexit for its members.
The guide sets out the potential implications for companies, and includes a toolkit to help companies assess the risks and prepare a response. It looks at the potential impact on key sectors, but also at how Brexit may affect currency transactions, supply chains, contracts, financing and the labour force, among other issues.
"Brexit has created great uncertainty for business. An assertive national effort is needed to avoid the very real risk of a divisive, damaging Brexit divorce, and the UK crashing out of the EU without a trade deal or transitional arrangements," McCoy concluded.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Gavin Ryan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
