A quarter of Britain’s trade with the EU, worth more than £90bn a year in imports and exports, depends on the Channel tunnel, according to a report into the economic benefits of the transport link.
With Brexit negotiations expected to begin once article 50 is triggered next year, businesses are calling on the government to ensure that any new border controls – for customs or security – do not slow travel times and put jobs at risk.
The report into the Channel tunnel, conducted by the accountancy firm EY on behalf of the operators, says the 22-year-old link has fundamentally changed the way the UK does business and that 220,000 jobs now depend on the rapid transit of goods the tunnel enables.
Steve Hanley-Cook, an executive at parcel delivery service DHL, said: “Historically the tunnel has provided transit time advantages such as efficient border checks and customs controls. It is, however, important, in light of upcoming changes to trade relations between the UK and continental Europe, that any agreement does not seek to dilute these advantages.”
About 30% of UK exports, worth £43.6bn, and 22% of imports from Europe, worth £47.8bn, flow through the tunnel each year.
Supermarkets use the tunnel to receive multiple daily deliveries of fresh produce from the continent, instead of warehousing the goods in the UK. Carmakers and plants that use iron and other metals rely on the tunnel to send and receive manufacturing components.
The West Midlands exports the most using the tunnel, followed by the east of England. Scotland uses it to sell £300m of fish, fruit, vegetables and flowers annually.
