Britain and the EU

The European counties but not all European countries some are still trying to join, the European Union is an economic and political union of 27 member states.


The EU Benefits:

-Some of the laws that have come out of the EU are good and progressive, such as the 1998 Human Rights Acts which was pretty much dictated by the EU.
-Trade associations mean British businesses do not have to pay as many taxes and tariffs when importing/exporting within the EU. This reduces costs which can then be passed on to customers. It also encourages businesses from outside the EU to locate in the UK as a gateway into Europe, taking advantage of these lower taxes. This provides money for the economy, and jobs for local people.
-As a trade block we can compete with the USA, China etc. much more easily than we would otherwise be able to.
-British people can travel freely around Europe, e.g. all the old people who retire to France/Spain each year, or the younger people who can freely move to other countries to work or study.
-Lots of skilled workers from across Europe have moved here and taken important and valuable jobs that add a lot to society and economy, as well as all the unskilled workers who do jobs like cleaning the streets or picking fruit that many employers just cannot find British people to do.

Disadvantages include:
-We pay £40million to the EU each day: money that could be better spent on the NHS, schools, or getting our country a little less in debt.
-MEPs are elected, but the ruling, executive branch of the EU is the unelected and therefore unaccountable European Commission.
-People think our government is corrupt, but that's nothing compared to the way in which the EU parliament works. It would make some African states proud.
-The single currency problem. We are under huge pressure from many in the EU to adopt the Euro, even though it is a potentially weaker currency.
-We've lost a lot of independence in terms of law making: 75% of our laws come from the EU parliament, but some of these are a total waste of time and money. And have you seen the EU parliament recently? We're paying all these MEPs as well as our own MPs, but regularly hardly any MEPs turn up, even to important debates etc.
-The EU wants to use the Common Agricultural Policy to subsidise farmers in the East, who are not as efficient or productive (in many cases) as those in Western Europe. So our money is being used to support people in a far away country in an activity that is economically unproductive, which many people do not agree with any more than they like our taxes supporting French farmers.
-It's gone from being an organisation that aimed for closer economic ties and trade associations to one that makes our laws and is verging on turning us into one big USofEurope, which is not exactly a good thing.