The EU’s growth will be cut by 1.54 percent if the UK leaves without a withdrawal agreement, experts have calculated. Ireland would be the worst affected losing 50,330 jobs which is more than 2.5 percent of its workforce. Leo Varadkar would also be forced to stomach a £9billion hit to his economy if Britain leaves the bloc without a deal, The Sun reported.
The study by the University of Leuven is expected to heap pressure on the EU to soften their stance on Brexit and avoid the UK crashing out.
The Belgium foreign affairs chief Julie Bynens told The Sun: “European supply chains will be severely damaged and may come to a halt at the UK border without a soft Brexit.
“For some member states a hard Brexit would create a devastating impact on sectors such as textiles, food and beverages, agriculture and livestock farming and metals.
“There is no such thing as a perfectly ‘managed’ no deal Brexit.”
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The report’s author Professor Hylke Vandenbussche said the impact of a no deal Brexit on Europe will be “a lot bigger” than previously thought.
Her report outlines the disruption of supply chains across the EU and globally as opposed to the countries direct trade with the UK.
Ms Vandenbussche claimed France would lose 141,320 jobs under no deal while Germany would suffer 291,930 and Italy 139,140.
Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Portugal are also set to make job cuts.
The report noted a soft Brexit would lower job cuts in the EU to around 280,000, while the UK would lose 140,000.
The findings come as Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar warned that Britain leaving the EU without a deal would be “deeply challenging with many risks which can’t be mitigated” by his government.
He voiced concerns that the rhetoric emerging out of the Tory leadership contest is making a no deal Brexit more likely.
Mr Varadkar announced Dublin will publish a series of bulked up contingency plans that outline its readiness ahead of October 31 next month.
