LONDON (Dispatches) - French finance minister Bruno Le Maire has said that leaving the single market after Brexit has made the supply chain crisis worse for the UK.
“We are facing the same situation,” he said at the IMF meetings in Washington.
“But the fact that we are a member of a very important single market helps us facing these bottlenecks.”
UK retailers have warned this week of potential shortages in the run-up to Christmas due to a logjam at UK ports and a lack of lorry drivers.
“I think it’s helping us because we can have access to other job markets, when you are asking for some more people in restaurants, in hotels, for truck drivers, for instance, you have access to other labor markets,” Mr Le Maire said.
Talking to journalists in Washington, Mr Le Maire acknowledged: “We are all facing the same difficulties.”
However, he added: “I want to emphasise that within the EU the fact that we have one single market helps us to face the difficulties in the labour market.
“Talking to UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak on that very specific point, I just want to recall that for the UK it’s a little bit more difficult since they are no longer a member of the single market.”
His comments came as several British retailers have said they risk shortages during the Christmas shopping season due to supply problems.