LONDON—European Union leaders are holding a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to hammer out a deal designed to keep Britain in the 28-nation bloc. With the stakes high and the issues complex, the AP explains the ins and outs of the U.K.-EU relationship.
What Is the European Union?
Germany, France and four other nations formed the European Economic Community in 1957, determined to banish forever the bloodshed of two world wars. The grouping became the EU in 1993 and has grown into a 28-nation bloc of more than 500 million people stretching from Ireland to the Aegean Sea, with substantial powers over member states’ laws, economies and social policies. It has its own parliament, central bank and 19 EU members use a common currency, the euro.
Why Is Britain Considering Leaving?
Britain joined the bloc in 1973, but many Britons feel their island nation—a former imperial power with strong ties to the United States—is fundamentally different to its European neighbors. Anti-EU Britons resent everything from fishing quotas to fruit sizes being decided in Brussels, though supporters say Britain’s economy and security are enhanced by EU membership.
The anti-EU view is especially strong in the Conservative Party of Prime Minister David Cameron. It was partly to appease his party that Cameron promised to hold a referendum on EU membership by the end of 2017.
What Could Get Britain to Stay?
Cameron argues that Britain should stay in the EU if he can get changes cutting red tape and giving individual countries more power.
This week EU leaders will try to agree on change in four areas: economic governance; competitiveness; sovereignty; and social benefits and free movement. The last section is the most contentious—Britain wants to be able to make immigrants from other EU countries wait for up to four years before they can receive some welfare benefits, notably child benefit.
Why Is There so Much Focus on Child Benefit?
Since a group of former communist eastern European nations joined the EU in 2004, more than 500,000 Poles, Lithuanians and others have moved to Britain. They receive the same benefits as British workers, including payments if they have children—even if those children live in the parents’ home country. This strikes many Britons as unfair.
