The UK and the EU

[The Don]

Ill make it extremely simple for you.

We'll trade together. You be Britain and I'll be Europe.

Now I'll give you £8 worth of goods today and then you can give me £10 worth of goods tomorrow. We'll repeat this trading of goods ad infinitum...oh hold on I don't want to deal with you any more.

So now you are £2 up and I'm £2 down. Every 2 days. Why would I want to stop trading or dealing with you when I make money by selling you stuff and buying stuff from you?

The idea that Europeans are going to cut all trade off if the UK either leaves the EU altogether or remains in the free-trade area is simplistic naivety at best.

China has no problem trading with the EU. So why does any other country have to be bound by EU employment law in order to trade?

It would seem that you are the one who doesn't seem to understand.

*edited to add - £10 and £8 are arbitrary figures. Just google european balance of payments for figures.

I think I understand pretty well.....

MarkCorrigan has already covered many of the points where being a member of the EU (or in the case of Norway being willing to abide by key EU legislation) makes it much easier for UK based companies to do business than it would otherwise be.

Certainly my experience of doing business in the EU is much more straight forward than it is in dealing with the U.S. My company provides professional services and the costs and hassle of getting work permits, sorting out tax and securing professional indemnity insurance in the U.S. has meant that we have only done so when piggybacking on other larger organisations. By contrast, doing business in the EU is comparatively straightforward.

If the E.U. reverted to being as difficult to deal with as the U.S. then the company would either lose more than 25% of its business or significantly increase its administrative costs.