Business leaders urge continued memership of EU

THE North West Business Leadership Team has thrown its weight behind the campaign for the UK to stay in the EU.

Along with other business leaders, including the CBI, the NWBLT, which includes top executives, entrepreneurs and leading academics, believes the arguments for staying in are even more powerful from the point of view of the North West.

In a position statement NWBLT commits its support for the UK remaining as a member of the EU, emphasising the large number of jobs (around 4.3 million) which depend upon links with the EU.

The proportion of UK employment which is dependent on EU trade is even higher in the North than in the South of England, it suggests.

NWBLT also points to the continuing importance of the EU Structural Funds, estimating the value of the current programme (2014-20) to the North West being around £800m.

In representing the interests of the UK’s largest manufacturing region, NWBLT believes there are particularly strong arguments for sectors such as automotive and engineering, in which both large and small firms regard EU membership as essential to achieving further growth in the UK.
 
Juergen Maier, NWBLT’s chairman and the chief executive of Siemens UK, said: “The EU strengthens the position for us in the UK by reducing trade barriers and facilitating export growth and job creation.

“As the North of England looks forward to the prospect of a resurgence of national and international investment, it is vital to remain party to the trade agreements which EU membership gives us around the world.”

Another NWBLT member, Professor Janet Beer, vice-chancellor of the University of Liverpool, added: “Being in Europe means we can achieve greater impact from our universities’ ground-breaking research, improving people’s lives through advances and discoveries.

“In the EU, universities can provide more life-changing opportunities for British students and staff, equipping them with the knowledge and skills they, and the UK, need to succeed.”

NWBLT also supports the ongoing efforts of UK Government to push for further improvements in the terms of the UK’s EU membership and is confident that any renegotiation agreed by our Government will help business throughout the UK to become more internationally competitive.