Brexit was a big surprise – even those advocating that the UK leaves Europe seemed stunned by their victory. I went to bed on June 23rd with the news services predicting a small “Bremain” victory. I’d broken my elbow earlier that day, and despite the generous doses of dihydrocodeine tartrate and paracetamol floating around my system, I wasn’t sleeping very well. So when my phone vibrated with a news alert on the lock screen at 4:30 am, “The UK votes to leave Europe”, it’s fair to say that like Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, I was surprised too. Nearly three months later, what this actually means is still unclear – there are a number of permutations on the table, with the biggest variables being freedom of movement for EU citizens (or not), and access to the European single market (or not), and what that will cost in terms of EU budget contributions.
But what might this mean for the eyecare industry? I asked around some company CEOs in continental Europe and the UK. For UK-based manufacturers/ exporters, the consensus was that a weakening pound was seen as generally a good thing – but a consolation prize (and not so good when much of the raw materials were imported in the first place). For net consumers within, and exporters to the UK, that’s obviously not great news – prices will eventually have to rise if the pound stays weak. But what about innovation? The research, development and production of pharmaceuticals and medical devices needs some of the most talented people in the world – and one of the biggest concerns voiced over a “hard” Brexit is brain drain. A second: regulation harmonization. It’s currently a level playing field, and that makes things simple for manufacturers, but bear in mind that revised EU Medical Device Regulations (MDRs) are coming, which are designed to improve patient safety, but will also impact the CE marking process and, inevitably, costs. Will the UK be bound by them? Will the UK even remain regulated by the (currently London-based) European Medicines Agency? Nobody knows, nor will they for many months, or years.
And that seems to be the point. These are “interesting times” for all of us. There are risks, and there are opportunities, but it all comes down to the bigger political situation. Might Brexit beget another country’s exit? Might another Eurozone crisis occur? What would happen then? To quote Brian Wilson and Tony Asher: God only knows.
Mark Hillen
Editor
