Saturday, 25th May 2013
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 The Bruges
Group expresses our deep and heartfelt sadness at the loss of our President,
Baroness Thatcher. She was our greatest peacetime Prime Minister and a
Standard Bearer for freedom, prosperity and democracy who changed the course
of British history. Baroness Thatcher exposed the folly of European
integration and argued that there was an alternative to the European Union.
We express our sincere condolences to her family.
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Saying 'No' to
the Single Market
Rejecting the EU's regulatory instrument
The political establishment now mainly defends our membership of the
European Union on the grounds that to leave the Single Market would be a
disaster for us economically.
EU membership is not a prerequisite for access to the Single Market.
Switzerland and Norway which are outside of the EU, export more in relation to
their GDPs and per capita than the UK does. Furthermore, both China and the
USA each export more to the EU than the UK does and without having their
economies burdened by costly EU regulation |  |
The
UK’s risks and exposure to the European Investment Bank and other European
financial mechanisms
UK’s exposure to the EU adds up to €150bn
This Bruges Group paper by Bob Lyddon, who is an independent management
consultant specializing in European banking, exposes the fact that the UK has
a Maximum Possible Loss of €149.2 billion on current capital and commitments
to the institutions involved in the financing of the EU and the euro. That
does not include any exposure through the International Monetary
Fund |
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Does
the EU’s Single Market Encourage FDI into the UK?
'Isolation' and inward investment
This paper examines the claim that the single market has helped investment,
and specifically the foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UK, which has in
recent years contributed somewhere between a fifth and a half of the total
gross UK capital formation. Membership of the EU’s single market is commonly
assumed to have been a key factor in encouraging foreign investors to choose
to invest in the UK |  |
A
Crisis of Trust
The Bruges Group is pleased to announce the publication of A Crisis of
Trust by Stuart Wheeler. It examines, in detail, the political culture
that has grown up in Britain since our accession to the EU.
A Crisis of Trust is an invaluable guide to what has gone wrong and
how our shattered parliamentary institutions may yet be put right, written by
one of Britain’s most successful and well-informed businessmen.
Click
here to purchase your copy |
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MP
Watch
Who are the best and worst MPs
The Bruges Group has ranked Members of Parliament according to their voting
in the House of Commons. You can check how they voted on the key EU related
issues that came before them and see who are the genuine Eurosceptics and who
are Europhile. You can also let your Member of Parliament know what you think
of their voting record.
Is your MP one of the best or one of the worst
MPs? |
The Bruges Group is a think-tank which holds meetings, lobbies and produces
research on issues relating to Britain’s membership of the European Union. Our
Honorary President is the Rt Hon. the Baroness Thatcher.
Since our foundation in 1989, following on from the Bruges speech made by the
then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, the Group has produced ground-breaking
research on issues relating to; the cost of the EU, payments to the EU,
immigration, the euro, the EU and the environment and EU corruption.
The Bruges Group also comments upon the many EU institutions, such as the
Brussels bureaucracy which includes; the European Commission, the European
Court of Justice, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. These
European institutions, and their bureaucrats, produce directives and
regulations which are a burden upon businesses and the economy.
Through its work against the treaties which establish and govern the
functioning of the European Union the Bruges Group spearheads the intellectual
battle against European integration, EU federalism, centralisation and
enlargement. The Bruges Group continues to consider issues relating to the
UK’s withdrawal from the EU and the need to restore British sovereignty and
democracy. As such there should be a referendum on the EU.
The Group often comments on the Conservative Party and Europe; which remains
a contentious issue for the government.
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