Labour MEPs have welcomed today's CBI report on Britain's membership of the EU as yet more proof the UK is better off inside the European Union than out.
The main benefits of EU membership the reports highlight include: access to the single market of 500 million consumers; one set of rules for businesses, not 28; more international investment; opening up a third of the world’s markets for trade; and lower prices and more choice for customers.
Among the reforms the report calls for are that more should be done to open up global markets, simplifying rules so firms can grow, and protection for non-eurozone countries, concluding the "alternatives to full EU membership offer more downsides than upsides".
Glenis Willmott MEP, Labour's Leader in the European Parliament, said:
"Today's CBI report is the latest evidence that we are better off inside the EU - better for businesses, better for workers, better for consumers.
"It also puts to bed the claims of some sceptics that business would 'thrive' if 'freed' from the 'constraints' of the EU - the CBI have said very clearly that nothing less than full membership of the European Union is in Britain's interests, pointing out Norway and Switzerland follow EU rules but have no say over them.
"The CBI will inevitably come under attack for their stance, much of it vitriolic abuse from quitters who have nothing positive to contribute, but we need more businesses and others to come out in public and loudly make the case for EU membership."
For further information, please contact Shamik Das on 0044 7920 441362 or 0032 479 790053.
www.eurolabour.org.uk • @EuroLabour
Notes to Editors
1. The CBI report, "Choosing our future: Why the European Union is good for business, but how it should be better", can be downloaded here: http://news.cbi.org.uk/news/cbi-makes-case-for-being-in-a-reformed-eu/choosing-our-future/