U.K. Reliance on EU Market Highlighted by New Services Data

(Bloomberg) -- British statisticians published a reminder on Wednesday that trade with the European Union isn’t just about trucks passing through ports.

Service providers like bankers, lawyers and architects account for about 80% of the U.K. economy, and currently benefit from being a part of the EU single market.

It allows them to sell across the world’s largest trading bloc, mostly without significant barriers. Outside, they could face hurdles in the form of diverging regulation and restrictions on the free movement of workers.

Posting a breakdown of how the U.K.’s trade in services is supplied, the Office for National Statistics said that “this type of information is critical for understanding what barriers businesses face when looking to trade, and to assist policy makers engaged in trade negotiations.”

It found that most exports to the EU are delivered remotely; for example, British legal or financial-advice services being supplied to a customer overseas by email.

The financial and telecommunications industries are heavily reliant on that type of trade, the report shows. Another delivery mechanism involves people traveling from one country to the other, a process rendered simple by the EU single market.

Research from the Centre for European Reform shows that even if the U.K. manages to strike a new free-trade agreement with the EU -- a prospect that looks increasingly unlikely under Prime Minister Boris Johnson -- there will be “big constraints” on services trade.

There would also be an increase in British firms establishing a commercial presence in the EU, which would result in some well-paid jobs moving to the bloc, the think tank said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jill Ward in London at jward98@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Andrew Atkinson, Brian Swint

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