Rolls-Royce is in the dark over whether ministers will seek a seat at the table of the European regulators that oversee the nuclear and aerospace industries.
The engineering group, which is one of Britain’s biggest exporters, is calling on the government to maintain influence on the rules set by the European Aviation Safety Agency and Euratom.
The government said that it would leave Euratom in its letter invoking Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon, but David Davis, the Brexit minister, raised the possibility of retaining associate membership last month. While the nuclear regulator is not technically an EU institution, it is subject to the European Court of Justice, whose jurisdiction the government has pledged to end.
The aviation regulator certifies aircraft and aerospace parts and ensures access to the American market through a mutual recognition arrangement.
Warren East, chief executive of Rolls-Royce, said that the company had a team working on Brexit scenario planning and that he wanted the outcome to be as close as possible to the status quo.
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“We have some very specific points around the European Aviation Safety Agency and maintaining a position there which enables us to have some influence on the safety standards and testing regimes and so on,” he said. “We’ve been fairly clear about that and the same thing applies to Euratom. These are genuine concerns for us.”
Asked whether the government was becoming more receptive to its concerns, he said: “I really struggle to answer that question. I don’t have any facts to go on right now, so it’s not really a matter of how confident I am. I cannot discern anything in the information that’s coming out that makes me feel more or less confident.”
While civil aerospace equipment is tariff-free under World Trade Organisation rules, Rolls-Royce could be hit by additional customs procedures.
It is unclear to what extent associate membership of either regulator would allow Britain to take part in decision-making. Switzerland is an associate member of Euratom and it does have some influence on decisions. However, Mr Davis has said that the red line on the European Court of Justice must be maintained.
Rolls-Royce said that it would expand its German presence if there were increased hurdles to trade either with the European Union or the United States. “We’re more fortunate than many British companies in this type of situation in that we already have a significant presence in Germany,” he said. “It’s inconceivable there would be any significant changes to our operation in the UK, whatever happens.”