Leadership1 publisherNot yet confirmed elsewhere2 min readPublished
Lescure ties Britain's say on EU procurement rules to rejoining the bloc
French finance minister Roland Lescure invited Britain to "come all the way" back to the EU after Andy Burnham called a second Brexit referendum possible. For UK-EU supply chains the nearer exposure is the bloc's planned Made in Europe procurement scheme, since any referendum waits on a future Labour manifesto.
The Board Room · Leadership desk
What happened
- Last week Burnham said the UK should consider staying as is, rejoining the customs union or single market, or going all the way back into the EU.
- Burnham has warned that the EU's planned Made in Europe scheme would damage the UK, citing its effect on British industry and supply chains.
- The proposals would give companies inside the bloc priority for public contracts and subsidies, with the aim of protecting EU industry from Chinese competitors.
- The EU's car industry has called for the UK to be included in the scheme to prevent disruption to its own supply chains.
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Why it matters
- constraint On Lescure's terms the UK gets a voice in rules like Made in Europe only by rejoining, so British suppliers have no interim route to influence on offer from France.
- exposure Under today's arrangement, UK suppliers bidding for EU public contracts or subsidised work are the firms a bloc-first priority would put behind EU rivals.
- contradiction EU car makers want the UK inside the scheme while France's finance minister links a seat at the table to membership, so Britain's status is unsettled on the EU side too.
Lescure was asked directly about Britain being kept out of the Made in Europe scheme. "Come back, and you'll be at the table, and we discuss all these things together," he said [8]. He said being in the bloc comes with some difficulties but helps members deal with the challenges facing the world [10]. On the referendum itself he left the choice with British voters. "British people decided, and that's obviously their 100% right, and if they're willing to come back, they will have to decide," he told the BBC, adding: "But what I can tell them is: come back, anytime." [9][4]
A skeptic would say none of this touches a contract this year. A French minister's welcome is not EU policy [1], and a referendum Burnham called "possible" for a future Labour manifesto is not a ballot [2]. That objection is fair on membership and weaker on procurement. The prime minister has already named Made in Europe as a danger to British industry [5]. The priority it gives firms inside the bloc applies to public contracts and subsidies whatever becomes of a referendum [6].
Burnham's list runs to four arrangements [3][11], and each would leave UK firms in a different position relative to the scheme. Rejoining would make UK firms companies inside the bloc, in the plain sense the proposals use [6]. The reporting does not say whether a customs union or single-market deal would be enough to qualify.
In my view, a supplier that commits capacity or contract terms this quarter on the assumption that today's arrangement holds is planning for one of Burnham's four options [11]. The referendum can stay a question for a later election without changing that. If the procurement scheme takes effect with the UK outside it, the commitment gets revisited next quarter under rules drafted without a British seat at the table [8].
What to watch
- Whether the final Made in Europe text includes the UK, as the EU car industry has asked.
- Whether Labour's next election manifesto commits to a second Brexit referendum.
- Whether any UK-EU arrangement short of membership is treated as inside the bloc for the scheme's contract and subsidy priority.