‘Britain must follow Brussels’ aerospace rules to protect the sector’

BRITAIN MUST follow Brussels’ rules on aerospace after Brexit to protect the industry, a Commons committee has said.

Aligning, harmonising and participating in the European Union’s supply chains and its watchdog is the best way forward for the sector, according to MPs.

Crashing out of the bloc without a deal would be “highly costly and disruptive” for UK aerospace and aviation, the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy select committee warned.

Customs checks for the industry, which has highly complex supply chains across Europe, must be kept to an absolute minimum, the committee said.

“We find that the competitiveness of UK aerospace could be adversely affected by any additional delays and bureaucracy encountered at the UK-EU border, given the prevalence of cross-border just-in-time supply chains in the sector,” its report said.

“The Government should seek to secure as near frictionless trade as possible between the UK and EU for the aerospace sector after Brexit, with the minimum amount of customs procedures.” About 114,000 people throughout the country are directly employed in the industry, with Airbus, Rolls-Royce, Bombardier, GKN and Leonardo Helicopters among the largest companies.

The Government has said that it wants to remain part of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulatory regime.

If that cannot be secured, transition arrangements lasting more than two years separate to the wider economic implementation period would need to be agreed, the committee said.