Market: The British have just decided (as of mid-March 2019) against leaving the EU without an agreement. Prime Minister Theresa May is now to ask the EU to postpone the exit date. At least that's what Parliament voted for. Because what anyone wants is not really clear, the situation is rather confusing. What does this actually mean for cyclists and the bicycle industry?
While votes on the subject are sometimes close - a proposal that could have forced the House of Commons to debate the Brexit options was rejected by 312 to 314 votes - the exit of the British from the EU seems certain. Only 85 of the more than 600 MEPs supported the relaunch of a vote on Britain's possible remaining in the EU. A "No Deal Brexit", i.e. the disorderly exit, should be prevented. No wonder: it would probably be a disaster for Great Britain and at least very unpleasant for the EU.
We asked around at a number of companies in the cycling industry: Do cyclists have to be prepared for Brexit problems?
How unclear the situation is for everyone involved becomes clear when you Henning Voss, Head of Voss-Spezial-Rad GmbH, and Brompton Sales Germany sounds: "One option is a Brexit with an extended transitional arrangement. This means that the transitional period would probably be used to breathe a sigh of relief. It remains to be seen to what extent reasonable rules for Brexit will emerge, because postponed does not mean canceled.”
Christian Höfler from VeloVeritas, German distributor of Orange Bikes: "Of course, we are continuously following the Brexit process and are always looking at what changes could or will come to us. Overall, we are relatively relaxed about Brexit, even if the processing of deliveries to the EU countries now means a little more paperwork.” Velo Veritas has experience with this problem. "We have also had this type of processing for deliveries to Switzerland and other countries in which we sell Orange Bikes. Sending an Orange bike to Switzerland, for example, costs us the equivalent of twelve Swiss francs more than shipping to the EU member states up until now.”
Robin Warne from Hope means: "The problem is that we don't know anything concrete at the moment. It simply means that industry firms like Hope with large export markets need to make contingency plans. We did that too, because our business partners and end customers on the mainland are also very important to us.” Of course, manufacturers want to keep their customers.
Henning Voss, Head of Voss-Spezial-Rad GmbH, and Brompton Sales Germany sees no catastrophe even in the event of a hard Brexit: "If you know the English, you know that this (rightly) proud nation will also accept a hard Brexit as an option. The consequences would initially be unpredictable delivery times and a price increase of between five and 15 percent, in the event that third-country tariffs are levied by the EU.”
Christian Höfler also considers the problems to be manageable: “The additional costs are really manageable, which is why there will not be any price adjustments for the time being. We will see later whether we will have to make adjustments in the future. A disorderly Brexit would probably have a major impact on delivery times in particular. Deliveries are currently taking three days from Halifax to the retailer, which is unlikely to be met by delivery services initially. But who knows, after the developments of the last few days, some bright minds in the delivery services and trucking companies will be thinking about what lies ahead, and there will be solutions..."
Robin Warne also confirms this: "There is nothing more we can do about the final outcome, but we will certainly ensure that we continue to serve these markets well.”
We agree with Mr. Voss on one point, because he says: "In any case, I very much regret that England will soon no longer be a member of the EU.”