The CBI Director-General has addressed a business audience at Cambridge University.

The CBI has highlighted the very real shared interest in securing an ambitious deal between the UK and EU, rather than focusing solely on the divorce settlement at this early stage.

With supply chains connected across the Continent, UK-EU trade is worth well over 600 billion euros each year.

Compared to a one-off departure bill of, some suggest tens of billions of euros, the economic case for making rapid progress on a trade agreement is clear.

In a speech at Cambridge University, CBI Director-General, Carolyn Fairbairn, will say:

“We have an overwhelming shared interest in building the trading relationships which will define our shared future.

In today’s inter-connected economy which relies on supply chains crossing borders and nations, our fates are intertwined.

With a good agreement, European businesses can win together.

The business community – in the UK and the EU – is united in wanting an agreement with as few barriers as possible.

For both sides, leaving the negotiating table without a deal shouldn’t be ‘Plan B’ but ‘Plan Z’.

Whether it’s tariffs or regulation, a no deal scenario would have chilling effects on both sides of the Channel.

At the CBI, we’ve been meeting our peer business organisations from across Europe, convening a clear, European business voice and making these messages heard.”