Business leaders want government to prioritise EU relationships

As the tenth anniversary of the Brexit vote passes, the Institute of Directors (IoD) has published research revealing a shift in business sentiment towards the European Union.

The IoD report found that 52% of business leaders believe the government should make the EU its top trading priority, considerably higher than the 35% reported in April 2025.

Although the UK-EU Summit slated to redraw post-Brexit relations was scheduled for 22 July, António Costa, the European Council president, said it would be shelved to allow the EU to work with the UK prime minister’s ‘successor’.

The IoD views the change in support as an underlying and growing recognition of the EU’s importance to UK business.

This sharply contrasted with opinions on other trading partners, primarily the US, with support for prioritising the US falling to 2% of business leaders identifying it as the top priority, compared to 10% last year.

Sixty-three per cent of respondents backed the government’s approach to pursuing closer regulatory alignment, with 48% expressing strong support for alignment. A quarter of respondents were strongly opposed to close alignment.

Although 64% of business leaders believed that a closer alignment to EU legislation would have a positive effect on the UK economy, three-quarters also agreed that it was important that the UK retained its sovereignty to shape its own regulations.