Quote:
Originally Posted by Elrazor
Do you think that when companies look at the EU, they see it as some kind of economic utopia and will immediately up sticks and leave?
Wat?
It has nothing to do with that, the EU is a market, a big one, lots of people in it to buy your stuff. A much bigger market than the UK.
There are some businesses in the UK who make goods cars is a good example, the large majority of which get sold in the EU.
Why are they going to stay in the UK if the whole point of being here is to access the EU market?
If we leave the EU selling to that market gets a lot harder, probably the only way it stays near the same as now is if we negotiate a deal which still leaves us beholden to most of the rules we are now including immigration with no power over those rules, that would be really well played.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elrazor View Post
And this just won't happen. Germany and France are not going to cripple their own economy to prove a point of principle. I'd love to be in the room when Germany tells it's car manufacturers they are no long allowed to sell to the UK as a punishment for leaving the EU.
It works nothing like this.
Trade is not some binary on/off switch. Its a question of degrees.
Also you are confusing UK exporting and EU importing.
Germany wont ever tell its cars makers it cant sell to UK, it will tell UK manufacturers that they are now going to have to jump through hoops of ball ache and pay X in fees to sell to the EU. Trade wont be on/off it will be lessened to some linear degree.
It will then be up to the UK to try and reduce the penalties by playing tit for tat. Anyone who thinks we end up ahead in such a process is deluded, to avoid such a trade war is the very reason if we leave we are likely to end up in a new trade deal beholden to all the same rules as now but with no say over them. Again, that would be really well played.