Study Claims No Deal Brexit Would Destroy European Jobs Market

A recent study is warning a no-deal Brexit is likely to cause the loss of around 70,000 jobs in Spain alone, with a total of 1.2 million across EU member states.

The study, commissioned by the Belgian government and carried out at Leuven University in Belgium, was the first attempt to tell it like it is as regards the economic damage Brexit is expected to cause across the entire European Union as well as in the UK. Every European Union member state is expected to be affected, with Germany losing just under 300,000 jobs, France losing 141,320 and UK workers expected to suffer half a million redundancies. The study also calculated the percentages of jobs lost, with Ireland one of the worst hit with over 50 per cent of all jobs lost.

As a point of comparison, the study also calculated job losses in the event of Britain leaving with an agreement, with results still showing unacceptable levels of redundancies across Europe. For example, Spain would still lose some 16,000 jobs, making it one of a small group of EU nations least affected by Brexit’s outcome. The study’s results were based on disruption of EU member states’ global and EU-based supply chains in addition to direct trade links with Britain. Using a model no-deal scenario, researchers took into account the UK’s falling back on World Trade Organisation rules.

At the same time, a report in the Financial Times indicated a no-deal Brexit would seriously effect personal finances in Europe, especially in the UK, but Spain’s southern regions are expected to fare better than the rest of the country. For British expats working in EU member states, the study could well mean job losses on a large scale, as Europe as a whole would presumably prioritise putting expat redundancies ahead of its own nationals. For British expats, returning home and expecting to find a job may well be an impossible task.