Richard Reed(Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May will come under pressure from business leaders on Monday to speed up negotiations with the European Union amid concerns Britain may leave the world’s biggest trading bloc without a deal.
May has invited 15 business groups from Britain and continental Europe for talks to urge them to back her Brexit strategy and persuade companies not to move overseas.
The meeting comes amid slow progress in negotiations on leaving the European Union that has unsettled businesses and drawn warnings that unless a transition is agreed soon, some may begin activating Brexit contingency plans.
International businesses have become increasingly vocal in recent weeks over fears that Britain could leave the EU without a trade deal, a move that would send shockwaves through global markets and fracture some supply chains.
‘Extremely concerned’
European business association BusinessEurope, which will attend the talks, said last month it was “extremely concerned” with the slow pace of Brexit talks and called on the British government to rapidly come up with proposals that would speed them up.
BusinessEurope is a lobby group that speaks for all-sized enterprises in 34 European countries, including Britain.