Lille (AFP)

Customs issues, impact on turnover, loss of British customers or suppliers ... As Brexit approaches, many business leaders in the Hauts-de-France remain worried about the prospect, more and more more likely, a "No deal".

"For us, the constraint is the passage of customs.This poses a great uncertainty on delivery times and transport costs," said Benedict Paladini, Palchem ​​company based in Angres (Pas-de-Calais ), which exports chemicals in particular to England.

During a conference at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Lille meeting Tuesday evening some 180 bosses of the region, Géraldine Primazot, product safety manager at Weylchem ​​(chemicals), expresses the same concern. "This is what raises the most questions because we can not anticipate the impact of delays and delays," she told AFP.

Especially since "the United Kingdom will become a third country and will put in place a customs tariff, will it allow us to remain competitive with our competitors?"

For now, "it's the complete blur". "At the logistics level, we are told that it will be enough to (sign) formalities, I do not believe it too much," she says.

With some 150 establishments and 9,000 employees, the United Kingdom represents the 4th largest investor in the region and the third largest client of regional exports.

While negotiations between London and Brussels seem on the brink of rupture, three weeks before the deadline of 31 October, the authorities say they have done everything to prepare for an exit without agreement and support companies. "We quickly realized that we had to prepare for a No Deal, but on the other hand, it's not that simple.We have not yet come out of the + fog + British," recalls the President from the Hauts-de-France region, Xavier Bertrand.

"If companies are penalized, we will not have to wait one, two or three months to realize that they need to be supported," he said recently on France 3, calling on the state to remain vigilant .

- Tourism to England at half mast -

According to a study by the Banque de France, one in five companies in the region is concerned about Brexit, mainly in the industrial sector (agri-food, chemistry, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals ...).

"What worries them is primarily a decline in turnover in the United Kingdom because the Bank of England forecasts a decline in growth in case of hard Brexit, so customers who consume less", explains AFP Kathie Werquin-Wattebled, Regional Director of the Banque de France.

But "even before Brexit, these worries are already having a real impact on international trade and growth because today, in the UK, many have limited their investments because they do not know what is going to happen. However, investments are generally very rich in imports, "she says.

For Thibault Vayron, operating director of the "Robin des Bus" passenger transport association, "tourism will be affected". "According to the ferry companies, in 2021 a passport will be needed to travel to Britain, and for school tourism it will be catastrophic," he predicts.

He has not booked any bookings for England in 2020. "There is nothing left, sign that is not deceiving, even the ferries are only half full," he notes.

While the authorities call not to give in to alarmism, he wants to remain optimistic. "For us, this is the destination that will change, we will go more to Germany, the Netherlands or Spain."

© 2019 AFP