Benefits of rejoining the EU

[jgw1]

It has been suggested on another thread that it would be a good idea to have a thread for us to share the benefits of rejoining the EU.

I thought I would be bold enough to do so, and suggest the first benefit.

The UK would then be rule maker not a rule taker..

We're poorer than we would have been if we'd stayed in https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/impact-brexit-uk-economy-reviewing-evidence

If getting poorer is good enough for you, that's your lookout. I prefer a strong economy.

You perhaps don't realise an EU average is meaningless - UK is not Greece for example.

@jgw1

But Sunak is reknowned for his honesty, integrity and competency, he told us as much when he first became Prime Minister

😀😀😀😀

But surely if one has $100 to spend in the UK and Greece one can buy exactly the same amount of widgets?

fearfuloffluff
The freedom of movement is actually the free movement of workers, this was not mentioned much in the brexit debates but it's very relevant.

Pensioners? Students? Homeless people?

The European commission has said EU member states have no right to deport EU citizens for being homeless and said EU citizens had a right to live in other EU countries “irrespective of whether they are homeless or not”.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/dec/14/home-office-policy-deport-eu-rough-sleepers-ruled-unlawful

May I say how pleased i am that you have joined this thread which will benefit immensely from your efforts in cutting and pasting links about the benefits of rejoining the eu.

HappiestSleeping
Cameron agreed to have a referendum, which he did. He never said he would do anything about the result.

June 12, 2016
The prime minister said: “What the British public will be voting for is to leave the EU and leave the single market.”

https://www.politico.eu/article/david-cameron-bbc-andrew-marr-ill-pull-uk-out-of-the-single-market-after-brexit-eu-referendum-vote-june-23-consequences-news/

Thank you, being in the single market is a good exmaple of a benefit of rejoining the EU.
Can you find links to others?

@jgw1 - the single market only covers good and labour. I would be much more convinced if it also included services which would indeed be beneficial to Britain. That one has been kicked into the long grass for decades at least

MidnightOnceMore
Perhaps the best estimate of the negative impact on Brexit on UK GDP to date is 2–3% of GDP.

The estimate in your link was published in July - we had updated GDP figures in September:
The UK actually fared much better after COVID than first thought. The Office for National Statistics has made some pretty dramatic upward revisions for 2020 and 2021 - and negativity among investors, households and businesses about lack lustre UK growth may have been misguided.

Put together, it means that at the end of 2021 - rather than being 1.2% smaller than it was going into the pandemic as previously reported - the UK economy was actually 0.6% bigger.

the entire UK economic narrative, post-pandemic, has just been revised away. All those headlines about the UK economy not being back at pre-COVID levels, or bottom of the G7, are now obsolete.
https://news.sky.com/story/the-uk-actually-fared-much-better-after-covid-than-first-thought-heres-why-it-matters-12952220

GDP: UK overtakes France and Germany as economic growth bigger than expected after Covid.
https://news.sky.com/story/gdp-uk-overtakes-france-and-germany-as-economic-growth-bigger-than-expected-after-covid-12972101

The eurozone economy has suffered its worst month for three years amid warnings recession in Germany is ‘well under way’.
Data provider S&P Global said its so-called purchasing managers’ index (PMI) of private sector activity in the single currency bloc fell to 46.5 in October.
That was well below the 50 cut-off between growth and decline and marked the worst performance since November 2020. Outside the pandemic, it was the weakest reading since March 2013.
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-12667375/German-recession-way-eurozone-woes-deepen.html

Fabulous reasons for rejoining the EU. Thanks for all your efforts.

I'll be happy to consider rejoining a European-based 'union' once the existing EU has dealt with most of it's current 'difficulties', including those objections coming from some of its existing members.

The UK has left and very little benefit would be currently gained attempting to rejoin 'cap in hand'. Wouldn't discount it as a future possibility, but the UK Electorate voted to leave for reasons that rejoining the EU soon wouldn't resolve.

Ain't there some bigger things going on in the world right now? Matters that predate the EU by a few decades and world matters that make the EU look as insignificant as they actually are.

You did see the bit where we’re doing better than France, Spain, Italy…?

Yes. The point is we're doing less well than we would be doing had we not left the EU.

What is your argument - that slipping backwards is progress?

Everyone knows Brexit has made the UK poorer. Because it was a shit idea.

You're right, and I stand corrected @SuperLoudPoppingAction

here's an article about how many of our towns across the UK benefited from the EU

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/may/31/what-has-the-eu-ever-done-for-my-town

The EU prioritised the poorer countries and poorer regions in UK such as Cornwall and Welsh Valleys. To my mind that's what it should be about, Levelling Up, supporting all Member States in improvements to benefit its citizens, unlike the present Government which does the reverse and makes the rich richer and the poor poorer.

There are so many benefits-

uk building industry looking a bit ropey? Your H can do an Auf wiedersehn pet on contract.

Your son/daughter (any class) can go and do 6 months in a bar in Barcelona etc during summer Uni holidays or a bit of work experience at a design company in Stockholm etc

You can get your band out on tour in Germany without thinking about carnets, VAT issues (merchandising)
90 day rules etc

International Company can invest here knowing they have easy access to a broad market - without significant complications, vAT/tax issues, staffing complications for high end personnel. I wouldn't invest here unless it was goods/service that were purely for UK market.

It is absolutely pointless comparing uk with other EU countries- differing tax rates apply, differing levels of what you get for tax, differing housing options, I saw that from living in Denmark- people have similar levels of take home but low childcare costs, no council tax, higher pensions s, no national insurance and far more good quality social housing. Same applies to a lot of Germany and Netherlands, sweden etc - you can tell me till the cows come home that they are doing worse- it sure doesn't feel like it if you spend time there.

Any campaigning has to be around how FOM benefited British Sports, Science, Business, Music, Education etc and individuals, Retiring to a warmer EU country is yet again only an opportunity for the wealthy.

The whole referendum was far from democratic . When the bill to enable the referendum went through Parliament it was an advisory vote - not a vote that had to be acted on. Alex Salmond called for an amendment that would have ensured that it would have needed a decisive leave vote from all of the nations in the UK. That was rejected because it was only a consultative referendum.

See the image of a page from the House of Commons Library briefing notes. Page 25 of https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7212/CBP-7212.pdf

In the end a mere 37% of the electorate voted to leave - 26% of the population. British subjects who had lived in the EU for more than 15 years could not vote. Nor younger people who had most at stake.

Furthermore the Leave campaign was based on lies and 'was found to have illegalities particularly on over spending. Leave continued to campaign during the purdah when all campaigning was suspended after the murder of Jo Cox.

There is evidence of Russian influence, with very big questions about the source of Aaron Banks' £8m donation to the Leave campaign. There were Russian troll farms set up posting on behalf of the Leave campaign. As the Russian diplomat, Mr Yakovenko reportedly said: “We have crushed the British to the ground. “They are on their knees, and they will not rise for a very long time.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jul/08/revealed-leaveeu-campaign-met-russian-officials-as-many-as-11-times

Brexit was the biggest con ever pulled on the British public.

As it is, Brexit has happened although not yet fully implemented as in Customs control of inward goods, and it is the disaster that was predicted.

We can't go backwards. We need to make going forwards work. Joining the Pacific trade partnership will help us.

When they are adults your DC could apply to live in an European country. They can stay 180 days out of 360 now.

No, we're doing VERY SLIGHTLY (2-3%) less well than some economists predicted. It's not all about money, and we are still, even after being poorer than PREDICTED, one of the biggest economies in Europe, and the world. No, I'm not worried over a small percentage decrease in GDP, because wellbeing is more important and telling 52m people to f-off wouldn't have done anything for social cohesion. Not sure if the vote to remain had won that any concessions whatsoever would have been made to the losers, whereas the negotiations bent over backwards to accommodate the views of remainers.

What rubbish people are spouting to try and justify Brexit being ok . I know plenty of non wealthy who retired in Spain etc and what use is 180 days out of 360 ? Unless you can keep 2 homes and don't need to work etc - fine if you have a holiday home and do a bit of toing and froing- useless if you need to move for work reasons - there seems to be this idea you just 'apply' - there are strict criteria and most people won't qualify unless in a shortage occupation. The idea too that we are only 'a bit down' - in theory that may be the case , as certain sectors doing nicely thank you- in practice most of the country is on its arse, it's about a total picture . Stuff simply doesn't function , a lot of business is just about getting by not thriving and there is little investment

Immigration- the Tory's do have huge immigration at the moment- mostly from Southern Asia , phillipines and Africa - to fill in gaps in the working population caused exactly by Brexit- all rather pointless. They are doing all this 'stop the boats' sloganism to detract from the 750,000 they have legally allowed in. Illegal immigration is minuscule compared to legal at the moment.

Joining the Pacific trade partnership will help us.

Yes because the trade deals we negotiated with Aus and NZ are such great examples

@DuncinToffee indeed - and many businesses market is both the UK and the EU for both logistical and cultural reasons-. We work in music and do business in USA and Japan but that pales into insignificance at the side of our EU trade, and for cultural reasons that won't change-.

It's very much the case in many other industries too including some of our highest earners, food etc