Flanders renews call for emergency EU funds in case of no-deal Brexit

Geert Bourgeois requests a ‘guarantee fund.’

As the U.K. and EU remain far from a deal on Britain’s exit from the bloc, Flanders is renewing its push for EU financial assistance to regions in case of a no-deal Brexit on March 29.

“Flanders urges the European Union to consider a Brexit ‘guarantee fund,'” Flemish Minister-President Geert Bourgeois told diplomats in a speech Thursday.

“We ask the European Union to stand shoulder to shoulder with the regions and member states that are geographically and economically closest to the U.K. and that will, consequently, be hit hardest by a no-deal Brexit,” he said.

The Flemish leader also wants to see changes to EU programs to reflect the impact of Brexit.

Flanders is asking for “adjustment mechanisms in the Multiannual Financial Framework to support the regions and companies that are most affected by Brexit,” he said.

For Flanders specifically, a no-deal Brexit would entail a “loss of 28,000 jobs and a 2.6 percent fall in GDP,” Bourgeois noted.