Industry figures in construction and aerospace have joined car manufacturers in calling for an improvement in post-Brexit rules to protect business.
Rishi Sunak has said that the UK is in talks with the European Union over concerns raised by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), Stellantis and Ford about a looming deadline for “rules of origin” regulations surrounding electric cars.
JLR, which employs around 30,000 people, said the rules are “unrealistic and counterproductive” and could lead to job losses.
Other industry leaders have also sounded warnings about aspects of the Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), agreed by Boris Johnson and the EU in December 2020.
A failure to negotiate the UK’s continued membership of the European Aviation Safety Agency (ESAE) has meant that UK aviation licenses are no longer recognised in the EU, and European maintenance firms need a separate approval to work for UK-registered airlines.
Aimie Stone, Chief Economist at ADS Group, the trade association for the aerospace, security, defence and space industries, said this failure had hampered aviation’s recovery following the pandemic.
“Since the start of 2022, we have seen stronger aircraft order books as flight volumes recover towards pre-pandemic levels, and consequent recovery in aerospace market demand,” she said.
“[But] ADS is not expecting to reach pre-pandemic trends of aerospace manufacturing until at least 2024.”
The UK is also yet to reach an agreement to allow its scientists to rejoin Horizon Europe, the 95 billion Euro research and innovation programme.
Officials in London have accused Brussels of asking the UK to pay too much to rejoin the scheme.
Ms Stone added: “We continue to highlight that the UK and EU must work together to solve outstanding issues, including, recognition of EASA of UK maintenance approvals, and UK association to Horizon Europe.”
In construction, developers have been hit hard by both the Covid-19 pandemic and soaring energy prices. But Tim Heatley, co-founder of Manchester-based Capital&Centricm, said Brexit had also been a “major factor”.
He told i: “On the surface there doesn’t seem as much jeopardy in construction as car manufacturing – you can’t outsource building new homes to Asia.
“But, I’d argue, we’re facing even bigger economic consequences if we don’t get things under control.
“Both construction material and labour costs have rocketed here way more than EU countries, so Brexit must be a major factor.”
A report published earlier this year found that between 2015 and 2022 the cost of construction materials including cement, timber and steel increased by 60 per cent in the UK compared to 35 per cent in the EU.
The sector has repeatedly called for less red tape to reduce costs and last year the government agreed to delay implementing a new ‘UKCA’ safety mark designed to replace and EU regime.
The TCA has has also led to a shortfall of 330,000 in the UK labour force, mostly in the low-skilled sector, according to the joint findings of the thinktanks Centre for European Reform (CER) and UK in a Changing Europe.
Construction workers now need to apply for a visa and may require sponsorship from an employer before the can begin work in the UK.
Mr Heatley warned that, with inflation also “wreaking havoc on costs”, there were “major viability challenges for some of the planned homes, workspaces and neighbourhoods in the UK”.
He added: “What the industry needs now is acute focus on supporting the swift movement of materials into the UK from the EU; getting inflation down; and seriously addressing the shortage of skilled workers to work on sites
