He explained that the UK seems to refuse to abide by "European rules of play." If the country indeed chooses to pursue this non-compliance, he added, their access to the European Single Market would be drastically restricted. "This is not comprehensible from an economic perspective because it is and remains the world's largest single market with 540 million inhabitants," he said. He concluded that the UK would be forced to reach a compromise.
Mackel stressed that many questions remain unanswered. Carlo Thelen, who currently serves as the Director General of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, expressed skepticism about the schedule of the negotiations between London and the EU. In his view, it might not be possible to conclude talks about the future relations between the two parties until the end of the year.
- Business as usual -
For the time being, it is nevertheless business as usual for the economy. "Our companies can rest assured. Nothing will happen because the conditions that applied before the end of January will continue to apply," he said. Thelen added that the European Union's laws and regulations would not be affected by the UK's departure but continue to be effective. There will not be major change within the next 11 months but the time that follows remains a question mark. Thelen also specified that a no-deal was not yet off the table.
He stressed that Luxembourg's companies are well-prepared and that the services of the Chamber of Commerce's Brexit helpline would not continued. Former director of FEDIL Robert Dennewald meanwhile argued that logistics will be the biggest challenge in the future.
