Brexit is hampering business for German companies in Britain: Survey

Brexit and its consequences continue to put a strain on German trade relations with Britain, reported dpa.

"Increased administrative costs, logistics costs and customs duties are proving to be ongoingly painful," according to a survey by the British Chamber of Commerce in Germany (BCCG) and the auditing firm KPMG, which was made available to dpa in London.

New regulations have led to an increasing decoupling of Britain from the European Union. The results were to be presented on Thursday as part of the Ludwig Erhard Summit in the Bavarian town of Tegernsee.

"The decline in the volume of German-British trade is dramatic," said KPMG division head Andreas Glunz. Since the Brexit referendum in 2016, the trade volume has fallen from 38 million tons to 22 million tons.

British exports to Germany rose again in 2022 for the first time since Brexit. However, this was mainly due to peak prices for crude oil and gas, which replaced the loss of supplies from Russia.

The British government wants to declare hundreds of laws from its period of EU membership, which spanned nearly five decades, invalid. BCCG President Michael Schmidt also warned against further decoupling in light of geopolitical crises.

"We urgently need to bring the politics and economies of both countries closer together again and build bridges," said Schmidt.

Britain left the EU at the end of January 2020 and has no longer been a member of the EU customs union and single market since 2021. Despite a last-minute trade agreement, there have been major problems in the bilateral exchange of goods with the EU, especially at the beginning.