The CEO of International CEOE, Marta Blanco, advocated reaching a broad and ambitious agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom, during a round table where she spoke as a speaker to discuss the global economic impact of Brexit on trade. This issue, in which the Minister of Energy and Business of the United Kingdom, Lord Martin Callanan, also participated; the director of the Center for Economic Analysis of the Smart Regulation Forum and associate researcher of the Institute of Economic Studies, Diego Sánchez de la Cruz; the Europarliamentary, of the Group of the European People's Party, Isabel Benjumea; and the correspondent for the Financial Times Europe, Mehreen Khan, was one of many that were addressed in the free trade forum The Blue Convention, organized by New Direction these days in Madrid.
The Forum brought together the main defenders of the free market and opinion leaders of companies, governments and academics, among others; to shape the debate on how trade and the digital economy are key to driving global growth. The event's agenda focused on issues such as the digital market in Latin America: establishing regulations to promote its development; the creative industries in digital convergence and the growth of intelligent mobility; and how free trade can stimulate economic growth between Europe and Latin America.
During her speech at the panel on the global economic impact of Brexit on trade, the CEO of International CEOE, Marta Blanco, stressed that the United Kingdom represents a crucial market for the European Union and, as regards the bilateral relationship with Spain, both countries are important business partners
Possible scenarios of the Agreement
The president of CEOE International explained that we are in a unique context, in which the European Union is negotiating an agreement for a future partnership with a country that, until last January 31, 2020, has been a full member of the European Union, which means that both parties currently share the same regulatory framework and standards. This starting point, he said, together with the strong ties between the two economies, is the reason why the business community advocates the conclusion of a broad, deep and ambitious agreement, which gives rise to the best possible scenario for both the United Kingdom As for the European Union.
Marta Blanco explained that there is a wide range of possible scenarios regarding the negotiation results of the future association. On the one hand, an agreement with regulatory convergence could be reached; on the other, an agreement that is not global and implies a significant increase in regulatory divergence could be reached; and, finally, there could be a situation where an agreement is not reached and, therefore, economic relations between the United Kingdom and the EU would be governed by the rules of the World Trade Organization.
Certainty for the business sector
The president of CEOE International stressed that the business community is committed to a broad and ambitious agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union. In addition, he pointed out that time should not risk the content of the agreement that governs the future relationship, supporting, if necessary, an extension of the negotiations.
Blanco emphasized that, although companies must try to take advantage of new opportunities that may arise from the new landscape, one should not lose sight of the certainty about the rules of the game in international markets that the network of agreements The commercial sector created in the last decades contributes to the business sector, insisting on the importance of legal certainty, predictable environments and certainty, which have allowed us to build and develop current relationships, both for trade and investment, and which constitute a necessary condition for the decision making of the business sector and that, therefore, must be preserved.
