Greece
Britain currently hold the 7th position on Greece’s exports list which amounts to over 1 billion Euros worth of goods every year. Greek businesses and manufacturers are majorly concerned over future trade deals as they rely on this to survive during their country’s current economic crises.
Greece also fear disruption to the current tourist trade within the country. It is estimated that over 2 million British tourists visit Greece every year which they rely on to bring a huge amount of custom to local shops, businesses and hotels. This level of tourism could decline due to increased difficulty for Brits travelling to European countries as well as the devaluation of the Pound against the Euro, reducing their purchasing power.
Italy
One of the main concerns of Italy is the impact of Brexit on their farming industry as a no-deal Brexit could affect 800,000 of their farmers. These concerns follow threats of a potential cut of 2.7billion Euros from the Common Agriculture Policy when the UK exit, leaving European farmers with a massive shortage of funds.
Also, in the absence of a free trade agreement with Europe, some popular Italian foods and products will not be so freely available in the UK, posing a huge threat to their export trade.
Sweden
Sweden’s capital has always had strong financial and business links with London. It has already been estimated that, in the event of a hard Brexit, Swedish GDP would drop by 0.3%. This monetary loss would equate to 18 million Krona (about 1.5 million pounds).
The potential trade deal is another big concern for Sweden. As of 2017 the UK became Sweden’s 4th largest export market, exporting just over 140 billion Euros worth of goods and services each year. If the deal doesn’t offer the same trade conditions as are currently in place, this could have a huge impact on Sweden’s export market.
Romania
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that there are currently about 391,000 Romanians and Bulgarians living and working in the UK, making them the second largest immigrant community. So, of course one of the major concerns of the country is the future rights and protections for these people.
So, clearly Brexit will cause a whole lot of problems for other countries in the European Union, not just the UK, so it’s no wonder they are making negotiations less than easy for the UK.
Borrell, a former President for the European Parliament, summed it up when he said:
“They (the EU nations) are quite angry with the United Kingdom. Because of all this mess, all the trouble created, all this time lost on negotiations…. Brexit is not a political problem, but it is a pain in the ass”.
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