PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS
Shaping the future for coatings in Brexit-Britain
The result of the EU referendum was undoubtedly the biggest political earthquake in a generation . Brexit will have a major impact on the coatings industry , with the majority of regulations BCF members comply with coming from the EU .
Due to the interlinked nature of supply chains and Prime Minister May ’ s announcement that the UK will not be part of the single market , it is more important than ever for the BCF to work effectively with government to ensure the best outcome for the sector from the Brexit negotiations and beyond .
CEPE
Immediately after the referendum result it was confirmed that the BCF will still be heavily involved with CEPE , in a relationship which will remain unchanged . Both the Norwegian and Swiss associations are active members of CEPE , and the BCF will continue to be heavily involved in CEPE meetings and work closely with European counterparts . Tom Bowtell from the BCF and Geoff Mackrill from BCF member company Teal & Mackrill are both on the CEPE boards , which will ensure the sector ’ s UK voice is still heard across Europe .
The aftermath
Following the referendum result , the BCF surveyed members on their initial views of the potential impact of Brexit and the future of the UK chemicals regulatory landscape . This led to BCF coordinating the ACA and the Cross Sector Reach Group ( a broad range of trade associations and manufacturing companies , including Jaguar Land Rover and Kingfisher ) to create an industry wide statement to government . In summary , the position across most of the chemical industry is that the UK should lobby for tariff free access to markets , continued access to skilled labour , and more competitive energy prices . For chemicals regulation , the wish is to keep within the European chemical regulatory framework , for ease of trading .
Brexit roundtable
With 30 BCF member companies represented and four different government departments in attendance ( HSE , Defra , DIT and BEIS ), the BCF held a Brexit roundtable in November 2016 to discuss the future of the coatings industry in a post-Brexit world . The BCF also met with the newly formed Department for Exiting the EU ( DExEU ), to report on the key points from the discussion . The government officials were very keen to hear the challenges , and also opportunities likely after Brexit , and members articulated very clearly where the risks were . Making officials aware that maintaining equivalence to EU chemicals regulation is going to be much more complicated than simply reading across EU law in the Great Repeal Bill was a major achievement of the event .
Attendees at BCF ’ s Brexit roundtable
Government departments present at the BCF ’ s Brexit roundtable
Geoff Mackrill , Teal & Mackrill
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