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Europe's largest aerospace group on Thursday welcomed a draft
divorce agreement between London and Brussels, but said there
needed to be more clarity to allow businesses to plan.
With Prime Minister Theresa May facing a battle to get her draft
agreement on the terms of Britain's departure from the European
Union through parliament, and a potential revolt from members of
her party, Airbus vowed to pursue contingency plans.
"The draft agreement is certainly encouraging but we must
remember it is subject to parliamentary approvals," the head of
the company's internal Brexit task force told staff.
"For the teams working on preparing for Brexit we must stay
focused and keep working at full speed from a baseline of no
deal."
An Airbus spokesman declined to comment on the memo but told
Reuters, "the situation remains unclear, so we have to continue
planning and putting in place mitigation measures," adding this
position was unchanged since a paper published in June.
The comments echo those of German carmaker BMW <BMWG.DE>, which
has said that with the politics so uncertain, it would continue
to prepare for 'no-deal' or leaving the single EU market and
customs union with no agreed transition.
Airbus, which employs 14,000 people in Britain and builds most
wings for its jetliners there, said in June a 'no-deal' exit
would cost it billions of euros and force it to reconsider its
investments and "long-term footprint" in the country.
Chief Executive Tom Enders on Thursday called for "the removal
of uncertainty as soon as possible".
(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Editing by Dominique Vidalon)
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