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Should The United Kingdom Withdraw From The European Union?

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5. Should the United Kingdom withdraw from the European Union?
Background
The beginnings of what we know today as the European Union can be traced back to 1952, and the formation of the 'European Coal and Steel Community ' by the 'Inner Six ' founding member states. The ECSC was one of the first examples of a supranational union , designed to prevent the calamity of the two Great Wars from ever happening again. The ECSC later developed into the 'European Economic Community ' in 1967, before formally becoming the European Union (EU) in November 1993.
The United Kingdom officially became a member state of the European Economic Community (EEC) on the 1st of January 1973, having emerged considerably undermined from the Suez Crisis of 1956. The crisis highlighted the UK 's overreliance on the United States as its main ally, prompting the government to focus on forging economic alliances with its European neighbours as well, as opposed to maintaining its imperialistic approach to foreign policy. The UK 's initial membership to the EC was by no means plain sailing; in fact deep-rooted mistrust towards Britain by the French proved to be a major hurdle to overcome, as the first two applications were vetoed by the President, Charles de Gaulle. Once de Gaulle had left office, Britain 's third application was successfully accepted without opposition.
For the vast majority of the time since then, the UK has flourished in the EEC, and then the EU, benefitting from the increased trade

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