FIRST VERSION

Why Britain should not quit the European Union

A British withdrawal is becoming an increasingly likely scenario seeing as public opinion polls show strong support for Great Britain quitting the European Union. The United Kingdom Independence Party is becoming increasingly stronger and leading politicians, including Prime Minister David Cameron, are calling for a referendum on the subject, set to be held in 2017. Historically, Britain only joined the European Union out of necessity rather than ideology. Owing to this, the UK has always seen the EU as a means to an end. The British government thinks that Britain is too important for the European Union to let it go and so all the other member states must meet its demands in a renegotiated relationship. Many prominent (former) politicians such as Joschka Fischer however are convinced that while “for the EU, Britain’s exit would be a heavy blow”, “for the British it would be a real disaster [...]”. The reason for this is a number of political and economic consequences the country would suffer as a result of quitting the European Union and no longer being part of the Single Market or the political decision-making bodies.

Even if the UK quits the European Union, it will still be, at least geographically speaking, a European country. It will still have especially close ties, both economic and political, with many member states of the EU. The only difference would be that it no longer has the right and possibility to shape or block EU policies from within. Depending on the model that the EU and the UK negotiate for their post-withdrawal relationship, Great Britain will be excluded entirely or to a great extent from the decision-making process in EU common policies such as agriculture, fisheries, foreign, security and defense, justice and immigration and the Euro. Britain would go from being one of the most important and influential member states to being one of many important non-EU countries. Furthermore, a member state withdrawing from the Union would not only be detrimental to the Union’s perception in the rest of world, reinforcing the image of a Europe in decline, it would also be harmful to the United Kingdom. Throughout history, it has always been the United States’ closest European ally. As an outsider to the EU however, it would be a far less valuable ally and there are many powerful EU member states waiting to fill its position. This would mean a severe loss of international leverage and soft power for Great Britain. Withdrawing from the European Union would however not only be a bad decision with regards to politics, but also, and maybe even more importantly, with regards to economic aspects.

Many senior business figures and major business institutions have spoken out in favor of Europe, saying that an exit from the European Union, its biggest trading partner, could cost Great Britain billions, result in the UK having to pay for access to the Single Market and make them unable to influence policies that are potentially bad for the City, London’s financial services industry. Most importantly, inward investment from the European Union would fall away. The managing director of Siemens UK, Jürgen Maier, has warned the British government that the major German engineering and electronics conglomerate company Siemens AG would stop investing in its British plants should the UK actually quit the European Union. They compete with other European countries as well as with China and the US and having access to the Single Market with 500,000,000 inhabitants gives them a significant competitive advantage. Without it, investment in British plants would no longer be sensible. The company employs 13,000 people in Britain. The current CEO of both Renault and Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, also stated that Nissan’s factory in Sunderland, which is the UK’s biggest car plant and exporter, is European first and British second and that it would therefore have to reconsider its “strategy and investments for the future” if Britain were to leave the European Union. The company employs 6,500 people directly and supports another 23,000 jobs in its support chain. Most recently, Goldman Sachs, the world’s most powerful investment bank has announced that, in the case of a British withdrawal from the EU, it would move a substantial part of its European business to a Eurozone location such as Paris or Frankfurt. The bank employs 6,000 people in the UK. This pro-European attitude by big business is demonstrated on a wider scale by several polls. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the UK’s leading business lobbying organization which represents 240,000 businesses that together employ about a third of the British private sector workforce, estimates the annual benefits of Great Britain’s EU membership at about £78 billion. A recent CBI poll shows that 80% of businesses support British EU membership. Another poll by the British Chambers of Commerce found out that 58% of UK enterprises believe that withdrawing from the EU would have a “negative business and economic impact".

As can clearly be seen by the examples given in this essay, the UK would suffer severe political and economic consequences should it decide to leave the European Union. Not only would it be isolated from the rest of Europe while the European Union draws ever closer together, but it would also be excluded from the Single Market which would give cause to major companies to rethink their investment strategy and probably even cut a large number of jobs.

[896 words]

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CORRECTED VERSION

Why Britain should not quit the European Union

A British withdrawal is becoming an increasingly likely scenario as public opinion polls show strong support for Great Britain quitting the European Union. The United Kingdom Independence Party is becoming increasingly stronger and leading politicians, including Prime Minister David Cameron, are calling for a referendum on the subject, set to be held in 2017. Historically, Britain only joined the European Union out of necessity rather than ideology. Owing to this, the UK has always seen the EU as a means to an end. The British government thinks that Britain is too important for the European Union to let it go and so all the other member states must meet its demands in a renegotiated relationship. Many prominent (former) politicians such as Joschka Fischer are convinced that while “for the EU, Britain’s exit would be a heavy blow”, “for the British it would be a real disaster [...]”. The reason for this is a number of political and economic consequences the country would suffer as a result of quitting the European Union and no longer being part of the Single Market or the political decision-making bodies.

Even if the UK quits the European Union, it will still be, at least geographically speaking, a European country. It will still have close ties, both economic and political, with many member states of the EU. The only difference would be that it no longer has the right and possibility to shape or block EU policies from within. Depending on the model that the EU and the UK negotiate for their post-withdrawal relationship, Great Britain will be excluded entirely or to a great extent from the decision-making process in EU common policies such as agriculture, fisheries, foreign, security and defense, justice and immigration and the Euro. Britain would go from being one of the most important and influential member states to being one of many important non-EU countries. Furthermore, a member state withdrawing from the Union would not only be detrimental to the Union’s perception in the rest of world, reinforcing the image of a Europe in decline, it would also be harmful to the United Kingdom. Throughout history, it has always been the United States’ closest European ally. As an outsider to the EU however, it would be a far less valuable ally and there are many powerful EU member states waiting to fill its position. This would mean a severe loss of international leverage and soft power for Great Britain. Withdrawing from the European Union would not only be a bad decision with regards to politics, but also, and maybe even more importantly, with regards to economic aspects.

Many senior business figures and major business institutions have spoken out in favor of Europe, saying that an exit from the European Union, its biggest trading partner, could cost Great Britain billions. The aftermath of the exit would be having to pay for access to the Single Market and the inability to influence policies that are potentially bad for the City, London’s financial services industry. Most importantly, inward investment from the European Union would fall away. The managing director of Siemens UK, Jürgen Maier, has warned the British government that the major German engineering and electronics conglomerate company Siemens AG would stop investing in its British plants should the UK actually quit the European Union. They compete with other European countries as well as with China and the US and having access to the Single Market with 500,000,000 inhabitants gives them a significant competitive advantage. Without it, investment in British plants would no longer be sensible. The company employs 13,000 people in Britain. The current CEO of both Renault and Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, also stated that Nissan’s factory in Sunderland, which is the UK’s biggest car plant and exporter, is European first and British second and that it would therefore have to reconsider its “strategy and investments for the future” if Britain were to leave the European Union. The company employs 6,500 people directly and supports another 23,000 jobs in its support chain. Most recently, Goldman Sachs, the world’s most powerful investment bank has announced that, in the case of a British withdrawal from the EU, it would move a substantial part of its European business to a Eurozone location such as Paris or Frankfurt. The bank employs 6,000 people in the UK.

This pro-European attitude by big business is demonstrated on a wider scale by several polls. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the UK’s leading business lobbying organization, represents 240,000 businesses that together employ about a third of the British private sector workforce, estimates the annual benefits of Great Britain’s EU membership at about £78 billion. A recent CBI poll shows that 80% of businesses support British EU membership. Another poll by the British Chambers of Commerce found out that 58% of UK enterprises believe that withdrawing from the EU would have a “negative business and economic impact".

As can clearly be seen by the examples given in this essay, the UK would suffer severe political and economic consequences should it decide to leave the European Union. Not only would it be isolated from the rest of Europe while the European Union draws ever closer together, but it would also be excluded from the Single Market which would give cause to major companies to rethink their investment strategy and probably even cut a large number of jobs.

[894 words]