Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:40 pm on 20 June 2017.
First Minister, on a visit to Airbus on Deeside, the company told me that their two key priorities for the UK’s future relationship with the European Union were, firstly, that there should be no tariffs on their goods and parts, and, secondly, that they should be able to benefit from freedom of movement of skilled workers. We’ve recently heard warnings from Airbus that a failure to meet these priorities could jeopardise jobs and business investment. You would want to guarantee those two priorities, in line with our joint White Paper, but, at a Confederation of British Industry dinner on Friday, you said that membership of the single market would be incompatible with the EU referendum result. Will you now provide clarity? Are you ruling out membership of the European Free Trade Association and are you ruling out being a part of the European Economic Area?