Response to the Announcement of a Date for the EU Referendum
Paul Everitt, Chief Executive of ADS Group responds to the announcement of a date for the EU referendum:
“In securing agreement on the renegotiation package the Prime Minister has demonstrated the UK can influence and shape the priorities of the European Union. The date for the referendum has been set for 23rd June and it represents the next important step in changing the UK’s relationship with Brussels, not breaking it.
“ADS represents organisations of all sizes, and support for the UK’s continued membership of the EU is uniform across our membership; collectively our companies turnover £56bn annually and directly employ 310,000 people. When surveyed, 86 per cent of ADS members stated that remaining part of the EU is better for business.
“Our members benefit from easy access to trade and integrated pan-European supply chains, from valuable EU funding for research & development and from the UK Government influencing the rules and regulations that govern the EU single market.
“The next few months will see an intense, challenging and noisy debate; however the view of the aerospace, defence, security and space sectors is clear: the UK’s membership of the EU benefits our members, and provides the best opportunity to secure long-term prosperity their employees and our country.”
Last year ADS, with KPMG, carried out an economic assessment which demonstrated that the UK's membership of the EU delivers key benefits for the UK's Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space sectors.
The findings were supported by a GfK NOP survey of ADS’ 900 members on their views of how the UK's membership of the EU impacts their business.
The survey showed that:
- 86% of ADS members think it’s better for their business if the UK votes to stay in the EU
- 73% of ADS members believe EU membership is positive for their business
- In 2015, 89% of ADS members exported to the EU
- 59% of ADS members see free trade within the EU as the biggest benefit of membership to their business
- 76% of ADS members say increasing EU funding for R&D and skills is their top priority for changing the UK’s relationship with the EU
- 72% of ADS members consider it’s important that the UK engages more proactively in EU decision making.
The UK Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space Industry and the EU_WEB FINAL.pdf (2 MB)