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Australian businesses should turn away from London and look east to capitals like Paris, Berlin and Rome as Britain dithers over leaving the European Union, the European Union ambassador in Canberra says. The EU embassy in Canberra is driving a strong lobbying campaign to persuade Australian firms that London will not offer them the same benefits as it did when - and the ambassador says "when" - Britain finally decides to exit (Brexit, as it's called). "We are working on the assumption that withdrawal will take place," said Dr Michael Pulch. "Australia will have to revisit its relations with Europe. "Up to now, London has been the bridge. Most Australian firms had 'platforms' in London. That will have to change and is changing." Australia is currently negotiating a trade agreement with the European Union to make it easier for Australian exporters to sell goods and services in the EU and for the EU to sell in Australia. The European Union deal with Australia will cut out the United Kingdom if Britain leaves - absolutely nobody knows what will actually happen because of the paralysis and division in British politics. Dr Pulch said that the deal between the EU and Australia would take precedence over any trade deal between Australia and Britain. That would be negotiated by the Australian government before anything was agreed with the UK. He said the gain for Australia from a deal with the EU would be to make it easier for Australian companies offering services (like finance or engineering or architecture) to get access to the huge market on continental Europe which stretches from Calais to the Turkish border and from the Mediterranean up to the Arctic. A trade deal between the EU and South Korea increased trade between the two countries by 60 per cent. One of the reasons for so many Hyundai and Kia cars on Australian roads is that trade deal. He said there would be a gain for Australian consumers from a similar EU deal. European cars like BMWs and VWs would be 30 per cent cheaper than they are now as tariffs against them fell, he claimed. Dr Pulch said the European Union would open up its market to Australian farmers. "Many European consumers would welcome that," he said. The ambassador is too diplomatic to say that Australia should turn its back on London. He says, rather, that Australian companies need a "parallel bridge" to continental Europe. "In London, you will be out of the picture," he said. Without offices in Rome or Berlin or Paris, "it will be difficult to get a feel for trends and the market." It would be less profitable to run an Australian business in Europe from London, he said. "If your market is only in the UK, then nothing changes. "But if you are thinking about expanding into the second largest consumer market in the world then you might want to consider opening an office in that market." The ambassador who is from Germany said that the focus would change once Britain left the EU. There might well be direct flights from Australian cities to big European cities, for example, instead of going via London. At the moment, the UK is down to leave the EU on October 31 unless an agreement with the EU can be reached before. Parliament has vetoed the deal done by the British prime minister three times. It is, by the way, Europe Day on May 9, the anniversary of the signing of one of the first agreements to set up what would become the European Union, with the rubble of war still on the ground. In Canberra, the National Carillon and the Telstra Tower will be illuminated in the blue of the EU flag.

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