Eurosceptics claim that EU membership has become a major drag on the British economy. If Britain left the EU, they argue, it would be freed of irksome continental influences like regulations and protectionism – and would consequently become freer, more prosperous and truer to its globalising nature.
Britain needs to decide by 2014 whether to remain a central player in EU crime and policing policy. If not, the UK must opt-out of over 130 forms of European co-operation in this area with no guarantee of future access to - amongst other things - the European arrest warrant, which greatly simplifies extraditon between EU countries.
Charles Grant discusses his recent insight article 'Hollande, the Germans and 'political union'. ...Before becoming French president, Franҫois Hollande did not appear to take much interest in the EU.
Latest insight
A dose of inflation would help the eurozone medicine go down
Eurozone policy-makers are complacent about the risks of low inflation. If the euro is to survive, inflation will need to rise significantly, especially in Germany.
With Philip Whyte, March 2013
With Charles Grant, January 2013
With Hugo Brady, November 2012
With Charles Grant, November 2012