Arguments against the EU [print sheet]
Last updated: 20/04/07

People who are opposed to the European Union come from many different shades of opinion.  They are described as Euro-sceptics, anti-Europeans or Euro-realists.  They hold opinions that range from disagreements over certain areas of EU policy to the belief that the EU should be disbanded.  Such attitudes are particularly popular in Britain, but also have followers in other countries.  Although different people are concerned with different issues regarding the EU, these generally relate to the broad themes outlined below.  These are opinions – you should decide if you agree with them or not.

For wealthy countries, such as the UK, the cost of being a member of the EU is greater than the benefits they get out.  The best estimates put the annual net cost to the UK of EU membership in the region of £40 billion.  Much of this money pays for the outdated and wasteful Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), while a sizeable amount goes towards the structural funds which transfer money to poorer areas of the EU.  This cost is projected to rise following the accession of Bulgaria and Romania.

The costs of EU membership could be holding back faster developing countries, particularly the UK, which has a more global economy than many member states. For nine out of the last ten years, EU GDP growth has been lower than that of the USA.  This is largely the effect of EU regulation making it less easy to do business.  The EU's Enterprise Commissioner, Gunter Verheugen, recently estimated the cost of EU regulation to be €600bn per annum. This is the equivalent of the EU losing the entire output of a medium-sized country like the Netherlands every year!   This situation becomes more concerning when one considers how hard it is to reform the way that the EU spends money.  Several attempts to reform the CAP have failed to reduce its cost substantially, while the 2005 budget negotiations also failed to agree to a slimmed-down budget.  This is because it is almost impossible to reach an agreement between twenty-seven countries.

The European Community was set up as an economic organisation.  But it has expanded its role to cover many areas where it would be better for member states to make decisions.  This process has been accelerated since the Maastricht Treaty (1992), which expanded EU power into new areas.  Its powers now extend into traditionally national policy areas with the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Justice and Home Affairs Policy (JHA).  Many EU policies effect ordinary Europeans in the form of EU regulations that attempt to impose a single standard across the EU, but which are never debated by national parliaments.

The European Union has a lot of power but is much less accountable to the people than national governments.  Most EU decisions are made or shaped by the EU Commission which is led by unelected Commissioners and run by an appointed bureaucracy.  The democratic element of the EU model – the European Parliament – has fewer powers than a national government and rarely influences EU decisions.  The other key decision-making body – the European Council – is secretive, often meeting behind closed doors to thrash out deals without any attempt to ensure transparency.  All of this demonstrates a contempt for democracy and a reluctance to engage with voters.

Many of the things that the EU does are based on the principle of supranationalism.  In order for this to work, member states have to agree (normally through signing a treaty) to hand over sovereignty to the EU.  Certain areas, such as defence, taxation or currency should not be handed over to a supranational body because to do so would undermine the nation state.  Nevertheless, many have been.  Sadly, the EU is not as effective at managing many policy areas as nation states have been.  For a good example of the difficulties of handing over sovereignty one only has to look at the conflicts within the eurozone.  Because the EU always has to try to please all its members it often ends up reaching a compromise that no-one finds satisfactory.

‘The problems are getting more complicated. For each European country it is more complicated than before to find convergence with any other.’  Hubert Vedrine, French Foreign Minister 1997-2002

‘Recent votes in the real world suggest the peoples of Europe have lost confidence in this project.’  Nigel Farage, UK Independence Party Leader, 2005