With the official EU referendum campaigns now launched, the CBI is setting out the business case for why the majority of its member organisations want to remain in a reformed European Union.
Alongside a range of its members from different sectors and of all sizes, the UK’s leading business group is publishing Choosing Our Future, which outlines the benefits of EU membership, including access to a market of 500 million consumers, but also how the EU must reform to work better for business.
The report highlights the benefits of being in the EU, which include ensuring there is a growing number of customers for business and just one set of rules to work by. Membership would also ensure more international investment, the CBI claims, while allowing access to the skills necessary for businesses to grow. The organisation highlights that EU membership opens up a third of the world’s markets for trade, lowering prices for customers.
“The Single Market has been the solid foundation of our economic success in recent decades, giving us direct access to eight times more consumers than in the UK alone and ensuring we can go toe-to-toe with larger economies on major trade deals, creating jobs and economic growth here in the UK,” John Cridland, the director general of the CBI commented.
However, the director general did note that there were still problems with the UK ‘s current relationship with the EU. “The burden of regulation on smaller firms in particular still needs tackling, even if some progress is being made. And the UK must push for reform to make the whole of the EU more competitive in the global economy and deliver a Single Market fit for the 21st century,” Cridland concluded.
Robert joined the HRreview editorial team in October 2015. After graduating from the University of Salford in 2009 with a BA in Politics, Robert has spent several years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past he has been part of editorial teams at Flux Magazine, Mondo*Arc Magazine and The Marine Professional.
