Dutch companies have called for a transitional period where trade with the UK can go on as normal, even after Brexit.

Hans de Boer, chairman of Dutch employers’ organisation the VNO-NCW, told Dutch programme Nieuwsuur that he has been speaking to the head of the parallel British organisation and that they are ‘making the same argument’.

Earlier in the week, in a speech for the Dutch-British chamber of commerce, he had argued that it was ‘absolutely imperative‘ that the British take negotiations seriously, saying that uncertainty will cost Dutch firms up to 20,000 jobs.

He called on Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte to see if the Netherlands can play a constructive role in negotiations, offering the Brits ‘a warm shoulder’ and some ‘tough love’.

Talks postponed

The next round of talks has been postponed for a week, although EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has warned the ‘clock is ticking’. The EU wants to agree what the UK will pay towards previously-agreed commitments before discussing trade.

But De Boer stressed that the Netherlands has much to lose from Brexit too: Britain is the country’s third largest export market, according to the CBS statistics office – and fast-growing.

He said that his British equivalent, the chairman of the CBI, called him after his speech and said they are now ‘working with the same argument as us’ and that opinions in the UK are changing.

End of romance? 

‘You might have romantic ideas but the moment when you feel your job is in the air and your wallet feels light, it brings other things home,’ he said.

‘The Netherlands lies geographically between the continent and the UK, we have a good relationship with the English and a prime minister who is an old hand in foreign politics.

‘He could say, with support from other groups in the UK like the CBI, shall we think twice and propose a transition period keeping the current trade system intact.’