The Economic Advantages and Disadvantages of the UK Remaining in the Assignment

The Economic Advantages and Disadvantages of the UK Remaining in the EU - Assignment Example The UK has an important role in enhancing the EU's strength through its vast economic power that it has earned through its wide range of industrial-commercial and socio-cultural environmental factors (Jones, 2007). Its EU membership has, however, been cited to be one-sided, and thus has been termed detrimental to the region’s economy. The EU's total contribution to the improvement of Britains economy compared to the UK economy contribution is less significant. As a result, a referendum on opting out of our remaining in the EU for British citizens has been proposed as required by the EU (De Waele, 2005). Britain’s continued membership of the EU is very beneficial in terms of trade as it provides the UK with one of the largest single markets for its products. However, the costs seem to surpass the benefits. For instance, since 1979, Britain has paid about â‚ ¬260 billion to the EU and only received â‚ ¬97 back in benefits (De Waele, 2005). The essay examines why it is more beneficial for the UK to opt out of the EU than it is detrimental to the region’s economy. The exit of the UK from the EU zone is more beneficial to the region’s economic growth and development than it is detrimental to the economy. The UK spends ridiculously large amounts of money in the EU in terms of membership fees and other â€Å"hidden tariff† costs paid by the UK taxpayers due to red tape, waste, fraud and other factors. For instance, in 2014/15, a net payment of  £8.6 billion out of a total  £731 billion in public spending was paid into the EU budget by the UK (â€Å"UK Budget†, 2015). The amount of the money is far much less than the contribution the UK makes towards the development of roads and railways, which is  £5.2 billion and  £3 billion respectively. It also surpasses the jobseekers’ allowances that amounts to  £4.9 billion (â€Å"UK Budget†, 2015).