What is the point of us being members of the EU?

[Graham H]

It was originally formed as a trading block of countries to compete with larger single markets such as the USA.

Every year more and more countries are admitted and can benefit from trading with other member states without import duty.

The economies of those new member states can receive new grants and subsidies from other member states.

So if we have no limit on membership what is the benefit?

We lose all our rights to self management of our economies and trade but we are at the mercy of countires with lower wages and social benefits so we are undercut in import export.

Now being a member we are less protected tha we were before we were members and we now are not allowed to do anything to protect our trade.
Abfabmom, what makes you think that this is a USA site and only Americans use it?

Twigg. How can free trade work if you have some countries starving their workforce to produce cheap goods competing with other countries that respond to the demand of their citizens for a civilised standard of living. But I think that most countries are more capable of deciding such things at national level rather than international level where there are too many conflicts of interest
Feinschme... Yes I am from UK, I had the same thought as you about the yank who thinks yanks own everything and about the acronym I am old enough to have lived with it being called simply the Common Market, and the European Economic Community and the European Union and I wish the Euro beaurocrats had something better to do than keep changing the name
Yoshiz, In the first place I am not even writing about not benefitting from a common currency because the state I am referring to, the UK, still has not adopted the Euro and should not do so. I am not missing any point, I am saying there is no point. Having the same currency has nothing at all to do with encouraging trade, I wanted a BMW just as much when they sold them in Deutschmarks and I do in Euros or would if the UK traded in Euros. The problem with common currency is that you cannot keep traditionally strong stable low inflation and low interest banking systems such as Germany on a level with high interest, high inflation weak banking systems like Italy so, as with the common agricultural policy, you get the strong dragged down by the weak and an overall reduction in excellence.