GOODS TRADE

• From outside the EU, the UK would have to conform to EU product rules but have no influence in setting them.
• The EU is in a stronger position to negotiate trade deals with non-EU countries than the UK would be on its own.
• Some manufacturers have threatened to leave the UK if it was outside the Single Market.

SERVICES TRADE

• UK-based financial services would lose their ‘single passport’ to operate in EU markets.
• To access EU markets, UK firms would still have to conform to EU regulations with no influence over setting them.
• The UK has much to gain from remaining in the EU working to complete the Single Market in services
• Euro-area institutions are trying to bring more euro-dominated trading and settlement within the Eurozone. Outside the EU, the UK would find it hard to prevent this.

CAPITAL MOBILITY

• By staying in the EU, the UK could drive and shape the proposed Capital Markets Union.
• The UK risks losing inward foreign direct investment from non-EU countries if it is no longer a platform to access the Single Market.
• For UK companies operating in the EU, the lack of capital restrictions and single legal framework simplify procedures for raising capital and investing across jurisdictions.

LABOUR MOBILITY

• If the UK joined the EEA or took the Swiss approach, the UK would remain committed to freedom of labour movement of meaning it could not restrict EU immigration.
• Inward migration helps with skill shortages, a shrinking domestic workforce and may help keep costs and prices down in some sectors.
• Studies show EU migrants are net contributors to UK public finances and there is no evidence that immigrants take jobs away from UK-born workers

BUDGET IMPLICATIONS

• The U.K.’s GBP10bn net contribution to the EU budget is just 0.6% of GDP and the indirect benefits intangible but could be large.
• Freedom from the Common Agricultural Policy would simply mean Britain would need to devise its own framework of subsidies for farming.