CHAMBERS NEWS EU AFFAIRS
The Brief from
BRUSSELS Emma Kerins, International Affairs Executive with Chambers Ireland, looks at what we can expect to be on the EU agenda for 2017.
A
s the business community looks at the year ahead, many challenges loom on the horizon. The consequences of Brexit have yet to become clear, the issues of migration and the subsequent integration of migrants is becoming ever more important across the EU and unemployment is still a major issue, where European Commission “THE statistics record INTERRUPTION AND a 10 per cent LIKELY rate overall and a 20.8 per cent REDUCTION OF rate when it TRADE BETWEEN comes to youth IRELAND AND THE unemployment. UK WILL HAVE A Furthermore, DISPROPORTIONATE growth across the IMPACT ON eurozone is still OUR slow, although INDIGENOUS Ireland continues FIRMS, ESPECIALLY to be the fastest OUR growing economy in the EU. EXPORTING WHAT TO WATCH These challenges make for a difficult year ahead for both the business
SMES WHO ARE HUGELY RELIANT ON THE UK AS
• Supporting the European Commission’s trade agenda, particularly with regard to increased transatlantic trade • Reducing administrative burdens for business • Completing the Single Market, particularly in ways that support Ireland’s growing digital economy • Supporting SMEs The Commission’s proposals to reform the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCTB) into 2017 will also be a brief that the Irish business community will be following closely.
THEIR PRIMARY MARKET.” CHALLENGES
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community and the European Union. Malta takes over the European Council Presidency for the first half of 2017, to be followed by Estonia in the second half of the year. When outlining the priorities for the presidency, the Maltese government said its overarching objective is to restore trust in the EU. In the European Commission’s Work Programme for 2017, several areas will inform the work of Chambers Ireland for the duration of 2017. This includes:
The UK’s exit from the EU is almost certain to be the most
pressing challenge for Irish business. Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty is likely to be triggered by the British government in the first half of 2017, thus beginning the process of the UK’s exit from the EU. Ensuring that Ireland’s interests are taken into consideration during this process will be a difficult task. The UK has committed itself to a hard Brexit which may see them leave not only the Single Market, but the Customs Union. The interruption and likely reduction of trade between Ireland and the UK will have a disproportionate impact on our indigenous firms, especially our exporting SMEs who are hugely reliant on the UK as their primary market. This will leave an economy like Ireland very exposed. With crucial general elections in the Netherlands (March), France (April/May), Italy (April or May) and Germany (September/October) likely to dominate the political picture in the months to come, business can expect a slowing down of political decision-making in the EU for a large part of 2017. Preparing Irish business for the consequences of a UK exit from the EU will be top of our agenda in the months and years ahead. Our objective is to work with Chambers and policy makers across the EU and in Brussels to ensure that Irish business interests are taken into consideration when the EU begins negotiations with the UK after the triggering of Article 50 in 2017. 27
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