What Drives Public Opinion on the European Union?

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.

The EU was created in the midst of a war in attempts to unite Europe under a common government. After 43 years of rebuilding foreign affairs, have their attempts made a positive impact on the modern Europe? Many argue that the EU takes a toll on country's sovereignty. They lack in allowing countries to be apart of the union, without masking the unique culture and diversity of that country. Despite the advantages of being apart of the EU, the disadvantages highly outweigh them in the areas of economic, independence and cultural identity.

The European Union is suffering with the recent explosion of Brexit, and with Trumps egregious election adding to the tension. Nationalism is beginning to grow globally, Europe being a prime example with more countries threatening to leave the European Union. Europe is becoming a much more nationalistic place. The author seems to be stating that no matter how much support you give the EU it will fall and we should embrace

This article explains the “on-going” argument of whether or not Britain should remain in the European Union or leave. Prime Minister David Cameron vowed to keep Britain apart, winning the backing of most of most of his Cabinet and the goal of rival parties. Cameron has made it clear Britain is safer and stronger in the EU. However, much of Britain believes in opposition to their membership among the the European Union, leaving this as a constant

Flaws in the eurozone, a term referring to European countries which share the same currency, have resulted in a populist movement lead by young Poles and other Europeans. This movement has contributed to the recent event of Britain voting to leave the European Union. Those who are against the decision fear of the consequences that are present now and those that are to come. One important thing that should be questioned is how populism has not only inflicting Britain and other European countries, but how it is affecting the United States.

This hypothesis is that of national location. The philosophy behind this political positioning suggests that in an issue such as European integration there will be more variation seen in countries that have more diverse social and economic factors involved in policy making. The article suggests that with this hypothesis that issues will be decided on by parties potentially depending on what is in the best interest at tat time based on the national feeling that is present in their respective countries. This hypothesis is certainly well-founded in the idea of European integration as if national interests are largely in favor of integration it stands to follow that parties and policy would likewise be in favor.

The future of the United Kingdom has never been so uncertain. The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, is keeping the promise he made in 2015, to hold a referendum on whether or not the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union. The referendum will take hold on Thursday, 23rd of June of this year. But the results of the last opinion poll held on April 12th to 14th, show, that the British public is fairly evenly split, as 40% want to remain in the European Union and 39% want to leave. The members of the United Kingdom Independence party and other British keen to leave the Union, argue that the UK and its policy makers are being held back and manipulated by the EU, who make too many rules for business, immigration laws and charges billions of pounds a year in membership fees for little in return and undermining the British interests. However, the UK’s investment in the membership and acceptance of rules of the EU, gives the UK far more benefits by allowing it to grow academically, economically and ensures safety for all its citizens and is therefore better off staying a member of this peacemaking Union.

The EU operates single market that allows for the free movement of people, goods, capital, and services between the twenty-eight member countries. The union has also been experiencing various problems such corruption and member countries threatening to leave the union due to some reasons that are best known to them. For instance, in recent times, England has been contemplating on leaving the union. Therefore, the paper will be focused on whether England should consider remaining in the EU from economic, environment, social and geo-political perspective.

The following document will be discussing the claim that the ‘Brexit’ referendum presents a fundamental challenge to the sustainability of the EU. To answer this question, we will be looking into Britain’s historic relationship with the EU, we will then discuss what Brexit is, how it happened and why. We will be focusing on four particular factors which are argued to have been decisive and divisive in the Brexit referendum such as globalisation, trade, security and migration, all of which are political issues currently challenging the EU and society as a whole.

The term Euroscepticism is often being used as a term for all criticism on Europe. But, to be clear, the use of Euroscepticism in this context will only mean the opposition against the EU. (Vollaard,

The result of the poll is not surprising because single currency policy have its own advantages and disadvantages for EU member states. The single currency policy purpose is to eliminate fluctuating exchange rates and exchange costs, create more choice and stable price for consumers and citizens, improvement of economic stability and growth, create a more integrated financial market, and encourage people to travel and shop in other countries. Nevertheless, not every member states can gain these advantages. The euro-skeptic thinks that this policy will not work and may threaten the monetary

During the early establishment of the EU (1955-75) member states were ‘anxious to reduce the differences existing between the various regions and the backwardness of the less favoured regions’. Hence

The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political partnership between 28 European member states that together cover much of the continent. The EU operates through a system of supranational independent institutions and intergovernmental negotiated decisions by the Member States (Nugent, 2010). EU member states have long believed that the Union magnifies their political and economic objectives. Nevertheless, tensions have always existed within the EU between those members that seek a closer union through more integration and those that prefer to keep the Union on a more intergovernmental footing, in order to better guard their national sovereignty. The interaction between international cooperation and domestic politics is pressingly relevant to the effect of European integration on domestic politics and democratic accountability in EU Member States. Many scholars consider democratic politics in Europe to be closely linked to increasing integration. This paper will argue that the process of European integration at the EU level has strengthened and also weakened the Member States in various different aspects.

1986 was the year of one of the main developments in the history of European integration. The Single European Act (SEA) brought about some significant changes in the internal structure of the European integration process, such as an institutionalized form of political cooperation and the deadline for the creation of the internal market (1 January 1992). Other changes brought about by the SEA include the possibility to use majority voting in some fields of policy making, and the formation of the First Instance Court. The next step in European Integration was the Treaty on the European Union. The Treaty of Maastricht has entered into force in 1993 and established the European Union with a structure of three pillars; The existing treaties (EEC, ECSC, EURATOM) constitute the first pillar for the EU. The legal and institutional framework is included into the pillar that most resembles the supra-national characteristics of EU, a point I shall return to. The second pillar established by The Treaty of Maastricht is the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) is to ensure that the European Union appears as one global political actor in the future. The third pillar is the Police and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters (PCJ) will help to develop an effective legal control over the territory of the European Union. The unity between these pillars and the member states themselves is created through a single institutional framework that includes

5. The article is helpful for my research as it discusses the EU in a different light and tries to study its decisions based theory and non-theory terms. 6. The limitation set by this article is that it concentrate mostly on the political aspect of the EU and in relation to policy making and does not explain theory in relation to other sectors like economy and defense. 7. In conclusion, it explains how EU is abandoning the old school theories of institutionalism in favor of a more generic model and believes this can be done in the EU as its institutionalized system provides fertile ground for development. 8. This article is not a foundation of my research but a rather important ideology in understanding EU institutions and actors.