Essay Question regarding Britain and the EU?

Question

My topic is: Given Britain's attitude to the EU, was it a mistake to accept its application to join?

I am going to argue that it was not a mistake for the EU to accept Britain's application-but to be honest I do not know how Britain has been beneficial to the EU, especially with Britain's ambivalent attitude to Europe.

Answer 1

Well - Britain is a powerful nation, and an ally of the United States, so the EU gets a benefit security wise from this.  If the EU was ever attacked, given Britain's close ties with America, the US would be sure to help out Europe.  In addition, Britain is one of the more substantial economic powers in the EU, and this helps the EU's economy and economical policies.

I think that once the current administration of Britain moves on and the general mindset of the British people continue to evolve, Britian will be closer to the EU as opposed to further away.  

It wasn't a bad idea to accept the application, just give it some time.

Answer 2

I like germany the best

Answer 3

It was a mistake to allow the UK in to the EU.

The above poster is wrong. The EU has nothing to do with defense. NATO is a defense organisation which includes most European countries and Canada and the US. Britain was a NATO country 20 years before it joined the EU. France and Germany are also in NATO. It has nothing to do with the UK or the EU.

Economically, the UK represents around 15% of EU GDP. If they left, they would need to negotiate a free trade agreement with the EU as 70% of UK trade is with the EU.

Economically, the EU would not feel the difference.