For probably the longest period since 2016’s referendum, the airwaves haven’t been dominated by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. You don’t have to buy Russian conspiracy theories, which paint last month’s nerve agent attack as a cynical UK government ploy to divert attention away from Brexit, to see that the focus of public debate has shifted since it took place.
This is also partly due to domestic politics. Theresa May has succeeded in papering over the cracks – at least for now – within the Tory party following her Mansion House speech in February. There is also a measure of Brexit fatigue and the technical nature of this stage of the withdrawal negotiations.
In a bid to restore Brexit back to the heart of the national debate, the CBI published a heavyweight paper this week outlining what a future EU-UK relationship should look like in key sectors of the economy, including energy.
The business umbrella body’s positions echo those adopted by Energy UK since the referendum. The CBI amplifies the industry body’s argument that it is vital to maintain as much regulatory alignment as possible between the EU and the UK in areas such as the internal energy market, the Emissions Trading System and nuclear safeguarding.
Utilities will hope the business body succeeds in winning over the government to the idea of a soft Brexit for energy before the wider withdrawal agreement is cast in stone.