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Britain to decide whether to stay in or leave the EU
On Thursday 23rd June 2016, the people of Britain will vote in a referendum to decide whether the UK should remain in the European Union (EU) or leave it. Supporters (“Remain” voters) say that the EU is Britain's biggest trading partner. Among a number of benefits, British citizens are free to work in any EU country and EU funding is spent on boosting jobs in the UK, redeveloping rundown areas and grants for university research. Critics (“Leave” voters) say the EU has taken too much power from the UK government—including the issue of allowing free migration of people from all parts of the EU to Britain—and it wastes the British taxpayers' money on excessive bureaucracy.
What is the EU?
The European Union is an economic and political union of 28 member states. The EU has developed a single market through new laws that apply to all member states. Passport controls have been abolished in what is known as the Schengen Area, which includes most—but not all—of the EU member states. The EU's aims include ensuring the free movement of people, goods and services. There are common policies on trade, agriculture and fisheries. A monetary union, in which the euro is the currency used in all member countries, sometimes known as the Eurozone, to which 18 member countries belong, was established in 1999. The UK opted out of both the Schengen Area and the euro.
How did the European Union come about?
The EU’s origins were in the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). After World War II ended, France and Germany came up with a plan to ensure they would never again go to war with one other. So they, plus four other nations—Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg—agreed to pool their coal and steel resources. Then, following the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957, the same six countries formed the European Economic Community (EEC) or Common Market, which came into being in 1958. Since then, a number of other European states have joined, including Britain. The Maastricht Treaty established the European Union under its current name in 1993. Today the EU has 28 member states with a total population of more than 500 million.
EU members
The EU has grown steadily from its six founding members. Britain, Ireland and Denmark joined in the first wave of expansion in 1973, followed by Greece in 1981 and Portugal and Spain five years later. Eastern Germany joined after unification and Austria, Finland and Sweden became part of the EU in 1995. The biggest enlargement came in 2004 when 10 new member countries joined. Romania and Bulgaria joined in 2007 and Croatia was latest to sign up in 2013.
The 28 members are currently: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands and United Kingdom.
How does the EU work?
Five major institutions run the EU: the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the European Union (or Council of Ministers), and the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The European Commission is based in Brussels. It is the EU’s executive body, and is made up of the President (currently Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg) and 27 commissioners—one from each of the other EU member states. The commission proposes new laws and policies.
The European Council is made up of the heads of government of each of the member states, along with President of the European Council (currently Donald Tusk of Poland) and the President of the European Commission. Also based in Brussels, the European Council does not make laws, but decides on the general policy matters.
(The European Council should not to be confused with the Council of the European Union, which is a separate body within the EU, or the Council of Europe—Europe’s leading human rights organization, a 47-member grouping that includes many other non-EU countries—which is not related to the EU at all.)
The Council of the European Union, also known as the Council of Ministers or the “Consilium”, consists of government ministers from all 28 nations. Together with the European Parliament, it forms the main decision-making body of the EU, approving European laws.
The Council meets in different forms for different purposes: foreign policy, for example, is discussed by the Foreign Affairs Council, while financial matters are discussed by the Economic and Financial Affairs Council. The ministers attending are those who have responsibility for the subject under discussion. The Council mainly meets in Brussels, but is based in Luxembourg for some months of the year.
The European Parliament is the only EU institution that is directly elected by the EU member states’ citizens. It consists of 751 members (MEPs). Elections have been held every five years since 1979. Since that time, the European Parliament's powers have steadily increased as new EU treaties are agreed. The Parliament meets in three places: Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg. The Parliament elects the President of the European Commission, and approves (or rejects) the appointment of the Commission as a whole. Acting alongside the Council of the European Union, it has control over the EU budget and approves all laws.
The Court of Justice of the European Union consists of judges appointed by each EU member state. The court ensures that laws passed at EU level are applied correctly.
The Presidency of the European Union is held by a member state rather than an individual. The Presidency lasts for six months. It is currently held by Denmark but will pass on to Cyprus in July 2016.
EU budget contributions
The EU raises money—a total of €145 billion—from its member states roughly according to the size of their economies. Each country receives money back from the EU to support various projects in their countries. Once these adjustments are taken into account, Germany’s net contribution is the largest at 21.36%, followed by France at 15.72 %. Britain is third at 12.57% (the equivalent of an annual total of £8.5 billion). Countries with much smaller economies, such as Romania, contribute far less—in Romania’s case, 1.08%. (These are 2015 figures).
The UK's net contribution includes a rebate (money back). This is because a large percentage of the EU budget is spent on agricultural subsidies (money paid to farmers) as part of the Common Agricultural Policy, and the UK does not gain from this as much as other countries, such as France.
How does the EU spend its money?
The EU started out as a trading group (as the EEC), with free movement of goods and services within all member nations. Its focus has since widened. Now its aims include reducing regional inequalities, preserving the environment, promoting human rights and investing in education and research.
Over the six years between 2014 and 2020, the EU plans to spend about €960 billion to achieve its goals. The largest share, €325 billion, is earmarked to be spent on supporting the poorer regions of the EU; €278 billion is for agricultural funds for farms, with a further €95 billion for rural development and fisheries; €125.6 billion is pledged towards research and training to boost industrial growth; €59 billion will be allocated for development aid outside the EU; the remainder is for administration and security (e.g. border controls).