The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political partnership between 28 different countries. It consists of about half a billion citizens, and its combined economy represents about 20 percent of the world’s total economy (Briney, 2015). Today The European Union works as a single market, with free movement of people, goods and services from one country to another. There is a standard system of laws to be followed, and since 1999 many countries share a single currency called the Euro (Europa.eu, 2015). This essay will explore the background history of the European Union and the benefits and drawbacks of the European Union.
When the euro was introduced in January 1999, the United Kingdom was conspicuously absent from the list of European countries adopting the common currency. Although the previous Labor government led by Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared to be receptive to the idea joining the euro club, the current Tory government is clearly not in favor of adopting the euro and thus giving up monetary sovereignty of the country. The public opinion is also divided on the issue.
Breitfelder, M. (1998). The Euro Currency Age: Challenges and Opportunities for U.S. Businesses. Business America, 119 (7), 33.
The European Union consists of 28 member states and has a population of 503 million inhabitants, and a total surface area of over 4 million square miles. The EU has its own currency, the Euro, and the largest single market in the world. It is a global community and power and has a huge influence on our world today in many aspects, and has been slowly built up to what it is today through humanistic ideology , common interests, new structures, treaties, economic policy and the attempt of equality throughout.
The issue of whether or not the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union has been debated heavily over the past decade, with the debate heating up even more from the current European Sovereign Debt Crisis. Recent polls of the UK population showed that around half of the UK’s citizens would vote to pull out of the EU if it went to referendum. However, after all of the economic, political, and social advantages of being a member of the EU are considered, it remains clear that leaving the EU is not in the UK’s best interest. Economically, it does not make sense for the UK
The European Union (EU) is the organization which integrates the countries listed below, both politically and economically. It is a customs union, which is an agreement amongst a group of countries to eliminate trade barriers between them on the movement of goods, services, labor and capital, and also to establish a common external tariff on goods and services coming into the union. The EU evolved from the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which was formed in 1951 as a response to the First and Second World Wars to try to ensure future peace in Europe. This became the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1965, which in turn became the European
Whether the United Kingdom decides to join the European single currency and replace the pound with the euro will have profound economic as well as political effects on the country so is a very important decision and has considerable variations in attitudes towards the topic, although the British public opinion has consistently opposed joining the euro. The euro is currency shared by 18 of the European Union's Member States. The euro was introduced in 1999 and automatically became the new official currency of 11 States, followed by another 7 countries joining to date. However, the UK negotiated an opt-out to from the Treaty meaning they don’t have to adopt the common currency as they fit a certain criteria [1]. Joining the European single currency can have major advantages for the UK, such as diminished uncertainty of exchange rate for businesses and the decreased need to pay transaction costs of changing currencies when abroad. It can also have disadvantages such as loss of domestic monetary policy and variable rate debt in the UK.
The decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union has served in reshaping the way politics works in Europe. On June 3rd, 2016 a massive 30 million people came out to vote on the future of their countries. In the end, the vote to leave won 51.9% to 48.1%. Places like England and Wales both voted in favor of the exit, while Scotland and Northern Ireland voted overwhelmingly to stay in. While the long term effects of this decision obviously need time to be observed, the immediate economic impact has been somewhat mixed. The day after the vote was a cause for concern in that “the pound slumped after the referendum - and remains around 10% lower against the dollar and 15% down against the euro” (Wheeler 17). In contrast to this,
The Conservatives, on the other hand, have been against joining the Eurozone ever since negotiating an opt-out from the part of the Maastricht Treaty that would have required the UK to adopt the euro. They remain against the joining the euro, with David Cameron saying in his recent speech on Europe that “Britain is not in the single currency, and we're not going to be”.
In Europe, the single currency created additional problems because of overvalued exchange rates, and high bond yields.” (Pettinger, 2013).
The European Union is one of the most famous Economic blocs in our recent times. It is the culmination of efforts after the devastating Second World War. It currently includes 28 states with varied cultural and historical backgrounds and even different languages. It now has more than 30 separate international trade agreements with many countries such as Colombia and South Korea (Encyclopedia of Management).
Over the last few years, the probability that Britain may leave the EU has grown. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron announced a referendum concerning British membership in the EU to be held on June 23. Essentially not all the changes, which may occur, can be reduced to the question of money, since the problem has a strong political context. Still, this essay is mainly focused on economic aspects of the possible exit. Many experts regard the EU membership as generally beneficial for the UK; still there are some significant drawbacks. At the same time, there are factors that limit any possible prediction of the economic consequences of the British exit from the European Union. Nonetheless, in this work main areas affected by
Germany and her neighbors are members of the European Union (EU) and consequently, they share the same currency, the euro. By using the euro, businesses save money by avoiding costly exchange rate processing fees. Likewise, it strengthens competitiveness in the form of equal price comparison. In addition, it creates a fair macroeconomic system among the countries (Peng 118). That is to say, that one country can no longer undervalue their currency to keep other countries from being competitive.
The European Union (“EU”) is an economic and political vehicle between 28 European countries, including the United Kingdom, that allows national governments to pursue shared and national interests. The United Kingdom became a Member State in 1973. The EU was born out of a quest for peace following the devastating effects of World War II. To that end, six nations signed the European Coal and Steel Community Treaty, in 1951, to share their coal and steel resources. This agreement was subsequently replaced by the European Economic Community (“EEC”), which was eventually renamed the “European Community” (“EC”). The EU, which was created by the Maastricht Treaty, replaced the EC when it formally came into being in 1993 following ratification of the Treaty of the European Union (“TEU”) by Member States.
Title of essay: An evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of adopting the Euro. A case study of The UK