14:05

The employers’ organisation the CBI have suggested a new customs union to solve the issue of the Irish border and Brexit.

Economist Angela McGowan, the CBI’s Northern Ireland director, said today that a comprehensive customs union between the UK and the EU would go a long way towards solving some of the complex issues that arise with the UK’s exit from the EU – including the Irish border question.

McGowan told a conference at the University of Warwick today:

CBI members across Northern Ireland have been ahead of the curve in terms of recognising that only a close and comprehensive customs union with the EU will protect Northern Ireland’s economy, its precious agricultural base and its peace process. This outcome would allow us to maintain the large volumes of frictionless trade that currently flow both East/West and North/ South and would therein protect the many jobs that are dependent upon those trade flows.



