No. of EU members (as of March 2025)
27 Member countries
arguments that the EU has promoted peace
The idea of war between European states is far harder to imagine
In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel peace prize for its contribution to the reconciliation of peace
Signs of more nationalism and populism in recent European elections
- In France, Le Pen reached the second round of selection
- Hungary had the Fidesz-KDNP alliance who are right wing nationalists and won a fourth consecutive election
- the Dutch election was won by a right wing populist Party for Freedom, who called for Nexit
Sign of lack of interest in EU parliament
There is consistently low turnout in European parliament elections with 50% turnout in 2019
arguments that EU increases freedom
the Schengen Area
- 23 of the 27 EU member states have abolished all the border controls
- Everyday around 3.5 million people cross these invisible borders for work, or study or to visit family and friends
- Almost 1.7 million people live in one Schengen country while working in another
Arguments there is still a lack of freedom
with the 2015 migrant crisis in which over a million refugees, asylum seekers and migrants reached the EU many of the Schengen states reintroduced border controls
Which event forced a limit to the freedom
Covid 19, it forced many of the Schengen regions to introduce temporary border controls to curb the spread of the virus
Arguments the EU created a highly competitive single market
Maastricht treaty 1992 established the EU union and laid the groundwork for an economic and monetary union and a single currency
The Amsterdam Treaty 1997 harmonised social and workers rights
arguments that the EU has not created a highly competitive single market
Each country maintain their own national tax systems and transport systems
the regulations can increase compliance costs for businesses that have to meet the EU’s various safety and environmental standards
Arguments the EU has reduced exclusion and increased cohesion
- it protects the fundamental rights such as the right to life and the right to be free from torture
- it has development funds that help build infrastructure in certain countries where it is needed
- Many rights are enshrined by the EU treaties
Arguments the EU has not created cohesion and inclusion
- there is question over the implementation of the laws, in 2022 the EU took Hungary to court over discriminatory national law
- there are still large gaps in GDP per capita across EU member states, with Luxembourg at 120,000 Euros per head and Bulgaria at around 17,000 Euros
Arguments the EU has created an economic and monetary union
- 20 of the EU’s 27 members have adopted the shared currency (Euro)
- they have avoided tariffs by eliminating the borders
- the European stability mechanism 2012 provided financial assistance for countries in need
Arguments the EU has not established an economic and monetary union
- Member states have been keen to retain control of fiscal policy
- Members have failed to stick to the ‘converge criteria’(low inflation, low budget deficits and low debt)
- after the financial crisis of 2008 it showed the weakness of several countries and other member states were reluctant to help countries such as Greece
Arguments that the EU promotes values globally
- It has soft power through attraction and persuasion with different aid
- The EU have the ability to place economic sanctions such as on Russia in 2022
- the Russian sanctions imposed tariffs and from 2022-23 the EU banned 43.9 billion Euros worth of exports from Russia
- the Russian sanctions included freezing 21.5 billion Euros worth of Russian assets in Europe
arguments that the EU can’t promote values and interests globally
- the EU lacks hard power which is the ability to influence through coercion
- Foreign policy remains largely intergovernmental
- EU was divided over the 2003 Iraq war
Example of EU being influential on UK policy
the Common Fisheries policy is used in the EU to manage the fishing fleets and fishing stock, this policy gave EU members equal access to the UK waters and many blame this for leading to the decline in the UK fishing industry
Arguments that the EU has not been influential on UK policy
The UK has opted out of many EU policy ideas such as the idea of having a common foreign defence policy, the UK turned this down thanks to its ties with NATO and special relation with the USA
Arguments that EU has influenced political parties in UK
- in many cases the divided views over EU membership has caused divides in parties
- the 2016 referendum saw Cameron resign as PM and the splits in cabinet made it hard for May to rule
- EU membership has also damaged relationships between parties because there are several differing views
Arguments that the EU does not influence UK political parties
- since the 2019 election the leaders and policies of the main parties have accepted Brexit and few push for a second referendum
- Both UKIP and Brexit party have been unable to gain large amounts of seats in Westminster and have been weakened by the fact we left the EU
Arguments the EU has been influential over public opinion in the UK
- the EU became a high priority issue for voters with more people against it after the debt crisis in the Eurozone and the migrant crisis
- it has impacted peoples thoughts on politics in our country and the clear majority of people in the UK don’t think Brexit was successful, 5 years after it happened
Stats showing peoples thoughts of Brexit, 5 years after it happened (people against Brexit)
- only 11% say it was more of a success than a failure
- 55% say it was the wrong decision
- 18% of leave voters now think they would have voted remain
- 75% of 18-24 year-olds think it was wrong for the UK to leave the EU
Arguments that the EU did not influence UK public opinion
- In the 2014 Eurobarometer opinion poll, only 44% of UK citizens were optimistic about the future of the EU, the lowest out of any member state bar Greece
- there was a low voter turnout for any of the European parliament elections
fact showing the EU had little influence over UK public opinion
66% of leave voters still think they made the right decision
Arguments the EU had control over sovereignty in the UK
The the EU had exclusive competency to legislate on agriculture, fisheries and transport policy, as well as the rules governing the free movement for goods, persons, services and capital
