How ESB stands to gain from EU energy market?

What does Britain gain economically from membership of the EU?

• I read that membership of the EU costs Britain 65 billion per anum (Bruges Group, 2008). At first I thought this meant that the government paid in 65 billion which they could have spent on better things but when I looked into it, the government only paid in 14.8 billion, quite a small fraction of the budget. 28 billion of it was what businesses spent to comply with EU regulations, 3.3 billion was the value of the catch lost when other countries were allowed to fish in our waters, and 17 billion was additional food costs resulting from the common agricultural policy. Now I am wondering if anybody can tell me what Britain gains economically from being in the EU? Do businesses somehow make that money back? Is anything cheaper to buy? etc Also, this might be relevant: how does the superior bargaining power of the EU on the world stage benefit Britain?

• Answer:

  The main benefit, is it gives us access to the open trade zone i.e. freedom of movement of both goods (i.e. no tarriffs) and labour. This means firms in britain, have access to a larger consumer base. Furthermore it makes Britain more attractive for investment purposes, and means that more MNCs will relocate in britain. It can also lead to more highly skilled workers coming to Britain, which drives the economy.