EU referendum: Business leaders tell David Cameron that Europe needs Britain in one more warning on Brexit
Europe’s top business leaders will issue a personal plea to the Prime Minister today to do everything he can to keep Britain in the European Union, arguing that the continent’s economies benefit from the role the UK plays in Europe.
Business lobby groups from Germany, France, Spain and the Netherlands, along with the heads of L’Oreal, Siemens, and Banco Sabadell, among others, will meet David Cameron at 10 Downing Street this afternoon to explain why they believe EU membership “creates jobs, growth and prosperity in the UK and Europe”.
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“The UK provides the EU with a valuable vision and regulatory culture that promotes competitiveness, deregulation and free trade. This has contributed positively to boost European economic growth and job creation over the past decade,” said Ana Plaza of the Confederation of Employers and Industries of Spain.
“We need the UK to build a better Europe with us, for our companies and for our citizens,” said Michel Guilbaud, head of the French business group Medef.
Emma Marcegaglia, president of the pan-continental Confederation of European Businesses, said “both the UK and EU economy have benefited from UK membership of the EU in recent years, particularly through trade and investment flows”.
The meeting, which was organised by the CBI, comes as a survey of 227 members of the International Chamber of Commerce showed that 86 per cent wanted Britain to stay in the EU, and nearly half would reduce investment into the UK if it voted to leave.