The best way for the aerospace sector to take advantage of global
growth opportunities post-Brexit is to maintain harmonisation and
not diverge from international standards,
the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Committee has concluded.
A report published today on The impact of Brexit on the
aerospace sector, says any departure and divergence from
global standards would be ‘utterly self-defeating’ with no
trade-off between close harmonisation with the EU and access to
markets beyond.
The industry stands to benefit from substantial growth
opportunities beyond the EU in the coming years, with 34,000
deliveries of new aircraft worldwide forecast between 2017 and
2036.
The Committee concludes that the best way to take advantage of
increasing global demand is continued membership of the European
Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and that a departure could be
protracted and costly and give no practical benefit. It calls on
the Government to bring certainty and clarity by ruling out the
UK’s departure without a deal.
The report states that non-tariff barriers remain a significant
concern to the industry, with delays at the border of even just a
few hours a risk to the competitiveness of the sector.
Evidence suggests that increased checks at the future UK-EU
border could add £1.5billion a year to costs for an industry
which relies on just-in-time supply chains.
Aerospace accounts for 7 per cent of manufacturing output in the
UK and directly employs 114,000 people. One of the key players is
Airbus UK, while other major firms in the civil aerospace sector
include Rolls-Royce, Bombardier, GKN and Leonardo Helicopters.
MP, Chair of the Business,
Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee,
said: “The aerospace sector is one of the most
productive and fastest growing in the UK but this success is
highly dependent on participation in European and global supply
chains. The health of the industry relies on components moving
quickly across borders with delays of even a few hours having a
significant impact on costs. Given this, the Government must
ensure custom procedures are kept to an absolute minimum after we
leave the EU.
In a truly global industry, membership of EASA gives the UK
access to markets across the world through internationally
recognised safety standards. Leaving would be completely
counter-productive and leave the aerospace industry facing total
chaos. The Government should now rule out leaving EASA to ensure
the UK aerospace industry has the best possible chance of success
post-Brexit.
The Committee has now examined the impact of Brexit on three
key sectors of the UK economy, the automotive and civil nuclear
sector and now aerospace, and the lessons are similar each time:
the best way forward for jobs and businesses lies in alignment,
harmonisation and participation in EU supply chains and
regulatory bodies.”
With the aerospace sector a significant beneficiary of EU
funding, the Committee also says the UK should maintain its
membership of Horizon 2020, the Clean Sky Joint Understanding and
other collaborative R&D programmes.
