Disadvantages of EU membership to UK
include:
1.
Cost. The costs of EU membership to the UK is £15bn gross (0.06%
of GDP) – or £6.883 billion net. See UK
government spending. (UKIP claim that the cost of EU
membership in total amounts to £83bn gross if you include all possible costs,
such as an ‘estimated’ £48bn of regulation costs – or £1,380 per head
[1]. The ONS have estimated a net contribution cost of £7.1 bn. See actual
cost of EU membership
2.
Inefficient
policies. A large percentage (40%) of EU
spending goes on the Common Agricultural Policy. For many years this distorted
agricultural markets by placing minimum prices on food. This lead to higher
prices for consumers and encouraging over-supply. Reforms to CAP have reduced,
but not eliminated this wastage. A big existing problem with CAP is that it has
rewarded large land-owners, with little reflection of social benefit. See:
Transfer of funds from poor to rich landowners (Guardian) Though the UK is guilty of rejecting limit on CAP
3.
Problems of the
Euro. Membership of the EU doesn’t
necessarily mean membership of the Euro. But, the EU has placed great emphasis
on the single currency. However, it has proved to have many problems and
contributed to low rates of economic growth and high unemployment across the
EU. Fortunately, the UK stayed out of the Euro. See: Problems
of Euro.
4.
Pressure towards
austerity. Since 2008, many southern
European countries have faced pressure from the EU to pursue austerity –
spending cuts to meet budget deficit targets, but in the middle of a recession
these austerity measures have contributed to prolonged economic stagnation. In
particular, Greece was forced by its creditors to accept austerity, when some
economists have argued this is counter-productive.
5.
Net migration. Free
movement of labour has caused problems of
overcrowding in some UK cities. The UK’s population is set to rise to 70
million over the next decade, partly due to immigration (of which 50% is from
EU and 50% from non-EU). Immigration has helped to push up house prices and led
to congestion on roads. (See: immigration
and housing) The concern is that in the EU, the
UK is powerless to place a limit on immigration from Eastern Europe because
free movement of labour is a cornerstone of the EU. See: Impact
of immigration on UK economy
6.
More bureaucracy
less democracy. It is argued that the EU has
created extra layers of bureaucracy whilst taking away decision making process
further from local communities. For example, the British Chambers of Commerce has
estimated that the annual cost to the UK of EU regulation is £7.4bn. The
introduction of Qualified majority voting (QMV) mean that on many decisions
votes can be taken against the public interest of a particular country.
Evaluation of these problems
Source: Gov.UK – though they give confusing figure of EU spending at
£3bn, which is less than agreed measure, so I adapted figures to use £14.7bn –
which is generally accepted.
·
The cost of the EU is a relatively
small percentage of overall UK government spending. (See: EU
In perspective)
·
The UK has received regional funds
over the years, which has helped economic regeneration of areas like South
Wales and North East..
·
The CAP and other policies are in a
long slow process of being reformed. If the UK stays in the EU it could, in
theory, help to promote policies which work in the long-term interest of the UK
and reform inefficient policies like CAP.
·
An estimated 3.5 million jobs are
linked to trade with Europe. Some jobs may be threatened if tariff barriers
were to rise outside the EU.
·
The UK is third largest recipient
of inward
investment in the world. Access to the
Single Market is one factor in encouraging this inward investment. The
investment is important for UK economic growth and jobs.
·
Some EU bureaucracy has been
beneficial in promoting competition, e.g. forcing mobile phone networks to
limit charging when using mobiles abroad.
·
UK newspapers have tended to
exaggerate and even misinform readers about ‘EU rules and regulation’. This is
a list
of Euro myths – where UK newspapers have
blamed EU regulations, but it was actually inaccurate or misplaced.
·
Issues like farming and fishing and
the environment are global issues which need to be tackled within a European
framework, it is insufficient to have just a national policy on fishing and the
environment because the issues by nature require global co-operation, e.g.
solve global warming, over-rishing.
·
The EU Health Insurance Card enables
EU citizens to receive emergency healthcare on the same terms as the citizens
of the EU country they are visiting (often free). (Euro-movement)
·
By staying out the Euro, the UK has
retained independence over monetary policy, fiscal policy and the exchange
rate. The UK doesn’t have the same pressure to pursue austerity as countries in
the Eurozone have. This shows that the UK can combine membership of the EU with
flexibility over economic policy.
·
Migration works both ways. Many
British people have emigrated to take advantage of opportunities elsewhere in
Europe. An estimated 748,010 Britons live or work in the European Union (link). However, net migration has been running at around 200,000
a year since early 2000s.
·
EU
migrants are net contributors to the UK Treasury. Although they cost the UK in terms of public services,
they contribute relatively more in taxes. The main reason is that migrants are
more likely to be of working age 20-40. Therefore, they need relatively
less health care and no pensions. The UK native population is rapidly ageing –
this places stress on public finances because of a greater need for health care
and pensions. Without net migration, there would be a greater strain on public
finances.
·
The free movement of labour enables
a more flexible labour market, with immigrants able to fill gaps in the UK
labour market, such as nursing and plumbing. Also the additional labour
increases UK productive capacity and helps increase real GDP. (see impact of rising population) The large numbers of net migration to UK in recent years,
may reflect a temporary situation of relatively higher growth in UK than
Europe, and may subside when (if) the Eurozone recovers.
·
Problems attributed to EU migration
are more due to general government policy – e.g. cuts
to share of GDP spent on health care.
Comments
The big
downside of being an EU member is that the EU will impose every dangerously
flawed idea the UN utters. The irritants included loss of fishing rights and
the destruction of industries who emit carbon (not a pollutant). Much damage
has been done in Europe with overpriced, underperforming wind and solar implementation.
Germans stopped this after their electric bills doubled. Muslims have totally
destroyed the public school system in the UK. Nanny-state UN policies,
UN-favored political indoctrination, political correctness and excessive
environmental and anti-discrimination laws have destroyed free speech. Being tied
to weak members like Greece point out the unworkability of the Euro and EU-wide
central banking. The final last straw
was the UN Refugee Program that infected European countries with Sharia law and
millions of potential terrorists who migrated to Europe to conquer it at the
ballot box and take over to advance the Muslim caliphate. Muslims tried to do
this from 700 AD to 1400 AD and were finally extracted. Europeans don’t know their own history.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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