The Great Brexit Debate - Germany

What does the business community in Germany think about the UK's EU referendum?

There are close economic ties between the UK and Germany – around 2500 German companies have a UK branch, employing 370,000 people. From a German perspective, only the United States is a more important origin of investment¹.

Thus, naturally, German businesses are more than sceptical about a possible Brexit. According to a survey commissioned by the Bertelsmann Stiftung and conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit in November and December 2015, amongst 782 companies, four out of five German and British company CEOs (and 83% of the German CEOs) are opposed to a Brexit². They fear that there will be more regulation. In addition, non-UK companies are concerned that access to the UK market will become more difficult - commercial ties between the UK and continental Europe would loosen. The general feeling is that a Brexit would lead to an economic downturn in the UK and possibly even in