D Institute for the Study of Civil Society CIVITAS a 55 Tufton Street, London, SW1P 3QL v i Tel: 020 7799 6677 Email:
[email protected] Web: www.civitas.org.uk d C o n rust in the European Union has been in steep decline w since the eurocrisis, and the 2014 European Parliament a T y elections saw many MEPs sent to Brussels to represent parties opposed to the federalist agenda, and in some cases to the EU itself. Euroscepticism has gone from being a political position that was treated with contempt by both the media and the W political establishments to being a vital topic for debate. I Critics of Brussels expansionism, from different points on the T political compass, have asked whether the political and H economic benefits that Britain derives from membership of the EU are sufficient to outweigh the costs. F R The Conservative Party is committed to an in/out referendum I in 2017, should they win the general election in 2015. Opinion E polls show fluctuating levels of support for Brexit, but, as N David Conway argues in With Friends Like These… , it is scarcely reasonable to expect people to make up their minds D on this important issue without setting before them the S alternatives to EU membership. L Other European nations that are not members of the EU, as I well as developed nations outside Europe, have found ways K to trade profitably with EU countries. Britain should aim to E replicate the trading status of these nations, in what Conway T describes as the Norway, Swiss, Turkey and World Trade H Organisation options.