PM speech at Vauxhall on the EU referendum: 10 March 2016 (Archived)
The Prime Minister gave a speech setting out the economic arguments why the UK should remain in the European Union.
Introduction
There is going to be lots of debate about Europe over the next 3 and a half months.
But the biggest issue on the ballot paper on June 23rd is this: our economic future.
And as I바카라 사이트ve said before, the question isn바카라 사이트t whether Britain could still be a great country outside Europe. Of course we could.
The question is: where will our economy be stronger; where will our children have more opportunities; where will families have the most security; where will Britain be better off 바카라 사이트 in or out of a reformed Europe?
I know that as people make up their minds, what they want 바카라 사이트 more than anything 바카라 사이트 are the facts and arguments.
But I know people also want to understand more about Europe, and in particular the single market.
So today, I want to explain what this market is, how it works, and what its advantages are 바카라 사이트 and crucially how it should change in the future, under the agreement I negotiated and what that means for you, in terms of jobs, prices, investment in our economy, and your family바카라 사이트s financial security.
At the same time, I want to challenge those who advocate leaving to be equally clear about the alternatives that they propose for our relationship with this single market.
Because if there바카라 사이트s one thing lacking in all they have said so far, it is specifics, particularly about this issue.
What trade relationship would Britain have with Europe? What deals would we sign with the rest of the world? What tariffs would British business have to pay?
There are so many people in this country who need answers.
The farmer wondering if his beef will be subject to duties.
The factory worker wondering if his company will cut investment.
The young graduate wondering whether she바카라 사이트ll be able to get a job.
That to me is the difference in this referendum.
On the one side, we have facts about how a single market in a reformed Europe makes Britain better off, all drawn from experts바카라 사이트 projections, and other countries바카라 사이트 experiences.
On the other side, we have unanswered questions.
So as you make what will be the most important decision for this country in a generation, let me take you through the 3 big advantages of the single market:
First, how it allows businesses, like this one, to trade tariff-free with the European Union.
Second, how it removes the barriers that not even the best free trade agreements can completely tackle.
And third, how it enables the European Union to strike the most ambitious and comprehensive trade deals with the world.
And as I do this, I want to turn to the big questions that leave campaigners need to answer.
Remain: tariffs
So first, selling to a continent full of customers 바카라 사이트 500 million people 바카라 사이트 tariff-free.
Before we joined, we faced extremely high tariffs:
14% on cars.
17% on bicycles.
32% on salt.
37% on china.
Even, oddly, 20% on gloves 바카라 사이트 but only 13% on socks.
This all meant higher costs for businesses and for consumers 바카라 사이트 and less choice on our supermarket shelves.
Today, there is one tariff in the single market: and it is 0%.
And what it means is this:
A British businesswoman can sell her goods in Berlin as easily as she can in Birmingham.
A lorry that sets off from Sunderland doesn바카라 사이트t have to deal with layers of bureaucracy in every country as it heads towards for instance Salzburg.
And industries that were once struggling to survive are now thriving.
Let바카라 사이트s take your industry: cars.
For every 100 cars we make, 23 stay here in Britain, 33 are sold beyond Europe 바카라 사이트 but the biggest proportion, 44 of that 100 cars, they go to the continent.
Why? Not just because of our proximity.
But because those cars 바카라 사이트 made inside the single market 바카라 사이트 are around 10% less expensive than if they had been subject to the tariffs that are imposed outside the single market.
And it바카라 사이트s not just the selling that depends on Europe; it바카라 사이트s also the making.
Because in the single market, components are tariff-free, too.
And that is vital to Britain, where 59% of car parts by value are imported.
So as you look at the cars that are lined up here, ready to be shipped, you바카라 사이트re looking at an industry that is completely integrated with the single market.
And that바카라 사이트s good for the people of this country 바카라 사이트 it creates 140,000 jobs in the car industry; supporting an extra 300,000 jobs; and generating Β£12 billion a year for our economy.
So many industries benefit from a tariff-free Europe.
Look at chemicals and pharmaceuticals 바카라 사이트 nearly 140,000 jobs; worth over Β£22 billion pounds; selling over 50% of their exports to Europe.
Look at food industry 바카라 사이트 370,000 jobs; worth almost Β£20 billion; selling over 55% of exports to Europe.
So when I hear people argue that, by being in this single market, we are 바카라 사이트shackled to a corpse바카라 사이트, I say: you won바카라 사이트t find the people in these industries saying that; or the towns whose employment depends on them.
It바카라 사이트s by being in the single market that so many of our companies are growing.
And it also helps us attract a huge amount of investment to the United Kingdom.
Of course, businesses invest in Britain for many reasons 바카라 사이트 our skilled workforce, our flexible labour market and low taxes.
They invest because of our effective but low regulation 바카라 사이트 one of the least restrictive in the OECD, in fact, despite our membership of the European Union.
And they invest because our economy is strong.
That바카라 사이트s worth thinking about for a moment.
When we entered the European Community, back in the 1970s, with high inflation and frankly zero confidence in our economy.
Today, 40 years later, our country is much stronger and better off 바카라 사이트 with one of the fastest growth rates and lowest unemployment rates in Europe.
Now of course, we have turned round our country바카라 사이트s fortunes through our own efforts 바카라 사이트 not least through fundamental reforms in the 1980s.
But when you consider the country Britain is today compared to when we joined the EU, it is hard to sustain the argument that being in has hobbled us or crippled our ability to do well.
Far from holding us back, our membership of the EU is one reason why countries want to invest.
And every day, foreign companies invest Β£142 million here in Britain, companies like BMW, Bosch, Ikea, Nissan and Siemens. And of course General Motors.
That doesn바카라 사이트t just create jobs; it helps us to finance what economists call our current account deficit 바카라 사이트 meaning we can pay our way in the world.
And it바카라 사이트s small businesses that are affected as well.
Nearly a third of Federation of Small Businesses members import or export overseas, and 80% of those who export sell to Europe.
And it바카라 사이트s not just those trading directly with Europe; it바카라 사이트s those connected to that process 바카라 사이트 in the jargon, in the supply chain: the factory that makes the components for the car company; the local printer who makes leaflets for the factory; the sandwich shop that caters for the printers.
So many businesses succeed, directly and indirectly, because of this free-trade system.
Indeed, 3 million people바카라 사이트s jobs in our country are already linked to it.
And, because of the changes and reforms I바카라 사이트ve secured in Europe, I바카라 사이트m determined that many more businesses will succeed, too.
During that renegotiation I got some clear commitments: to complete the single market in services, in digital and in energy.
This really matters for a country like ours because over 3-quarters of our economy is made up of the service sector, and we are one of Europe바카라 사이트s leaders in technology and renewable energy.
So the result is clear: more jobs, more investment, lower prices, greater economic security 바카라 사이트 and hardworking families better off.
Leave: tariffs
Those who want to leave aren바카라 사이트t clear about what sort of access that we바카라 사이트d have to the single market after we바카라 사이트d left.
Clearly there would be a strong case for trying to secure full access.
But as the German finance minister made clear last week, if you want that you must pay into the EU and accept complete the free movement of people - 2 of the reasons many people cite for wanting to leave the EU in the first place.
Norway is one example of a country we could follow. They have almost full access to the single market.
But they pay into the EU; accept nearly double the number of EU migrants per head that we do and still have to put up with tariffs on some of their goods.
Crucially, they have no say on the rules of the single market, whereas we do.
Now others will say: let바카라 사이트s sign a free trade agreement like Canada is doing. And yes of course 바카라 사이트 perhaps we could.
But their free trade agreement is not anything like being in the single market and it retains a number of tariffs and quotas.
Will Canadian farmers have unrestricted exports for their produce? No.
Will Canadian car makers be able to sell their cars in Europe without cumbersome rules on the origin of each part? No.
Their agreement with the EU is over 1,400 pages long 바카라 사이트 700 of which are exemptions from free trade demanded by either side.
Now that might work for Canada, which sends around a tenth of its exports to Europe.
But it wouldn바카라 사이트t work for Britain, with around half our exports going to Europe.
Then there are those who will argue that we could pull out of the EU and fall back on World Trade Organisation rules.
But that wouldn바카라 사이트t mean tariff-free trade.
Even with the WTO Most Favoured Nation treatment, we바카라 사이트d be exposed to tariffs of 10% on our cars, 11% on clothes and 36% on average for dairy products. What would happen to jobs in those sectors?
Of course, each of those 3 outcomes, access to the Single Market, but accepting fees and migration; a free trade agreement; or WTO rules, all of these are do-able. And people who want to leave the EU should decide which they favour.
But there is another key question. Would Britain get a good deal?
Now here I want to cut through some of the rhetoric.
Because we have the leave campaigners saying any hint that you think Britain may not get a good deal is somehow 바카라 사이트talking Britain down바카라 사이트.
And we have remain campaigners saying it바카라 사이트s all very difficult and all very hard.
So I just need to present you with the facts, so you can make up your own mind.
If Britain was to vote to leave, we would have to enter discussions with the EU on what our trade relationship should be like.
And these will be the negotiating dynamics:
One nation negotiating with 27 nations.
Britain바카라 사이트s market of 60 million negotiating with a European market of 440 million.
Britain, a country which sells 50% of its goods to a European bloc, compared to a European bloc which sells only 7% of its goods to us.
Those are the facts. I will leave it to you to judge who the balance favours.
Remain: non-tariff barriers
Now the second big advantage of the single market is that it doesn바카라 사이트t just eliminate tariffs, it eliminates other barriers to trade 바카라 사이트 things that are known as non-tariff barriers.
These are the often more technical rules but they impose hidden costs on businesses.
Things like refusing to recognise the professional qualifications of your staff.
Or saying that your company has to set up a separate legal entity in every single country you want to trade in.
This is particularly important for Britain, which relies less on goods, which are hindered by tariffs, and more on services, which are hindered by these non-tariff barriers.
We바카라 사이트ve already demonstrated how effective we can be at bringing down the barriers.
In the 1980s, a lorry load of goods setting off from Manchester to Milan would be carrying 88 separate documents.
Today, thanks to this internal market which we drove forward, they have been replaced with just 1 piece of paper.
Before the 1990s, airlines could be blocked by other countries from flying where and when they wanted.
Britain helped end that, and that spawned EasyJet, Ryanair and Jet2.com, and opening up the continent to British businesses, students and holidaymakers, making travel much, much cheaper.
Of course it바카라 사이트s not always easy.
There are times when changes to these non-tariff rules can cause us problems. But frankly that바카라 사이트s no surprise when you have an organisation of 28 different members.
But on the big questions, we have a seat at the table to help shape those rules and promote Britian바카라 사이트s industries.
One of the biggest non-tariff barriers is the ability of countries to ban your product on the basis of often spurious concerns.
With a seat at the table and enforceable rules, we are able to challenge those things.
And that바카라 사이트s what we did in 2001 when the European Court of Justice overturned France바카라 사이트s bogus ban on British beef.
Without the single market, there are obstacles to selling meat for instance to some of our biggest trading partners 바카라 사이트 even our friends, like America.
How much British beef do you think we sell in America? None. All because of restrictions that are nearly 20 years old.
That shows just how important it is to be able to shape the rules to suit our interests, which the single market in the EU enables us to do.
Then there바카라 사이트s for instance the financial services, employing 1.1 million people in this country and adding Β£133 billion pounds to our economy.
This industry goes way beyond London; 2-thirds of financial sector jobs are based outside the capital.
All have the benefit of being able to trade in the single market of 500 million people without having to set up an office anywhere else other than the UK, because we are in the EU.
Recently, there was move that could바카라 사이트ve forced UK-based companies that clear euros 바카라 사이트 a bedrock of our financial services, to move inside the Eurozone.
That could바카라 사이트ve been deeply economically damaging for our country.
But we had our seat at the table, and we were able to stop it.
And through my renegotiation I바카라 사이트ve made sure a proposal like that can never happen again.
And let me be clear: I am the first to say that there needs to be further reform of the EU.
My renegotiation isn바카라 사이트t the end of the road for reform.
It바카라 사이트s another important milestone in our ongoing mission to make sure the EU works for us.
Leave: non-tariff barriers
Now what about the alternatives?
We need to be clear.
If we voted to leave, we could sign the best possible free trade agreement in the world with the European Union, but it still would not come close to giving British companies the access they get to the world바카라 사이트s largest free trade area from the single market.
Why?
Because 바카라 사이트 and this is really important point 바카라 사이트 even the best free trade agreements leave many of these non-tariff barriers in place.
For British firms like this, it would be a return to the bad old days of endless forms and burdensome bureaucracy and, along with losing out on the benefits of a more complete single market, it could cost Britain over Β£50 billion, according to the London School of Economics.
That바카라 사이트s not all. Those who want to leave Europe claim we would be repatriating powers.
But leaving Europe would in many ways give us less control:
We바카라 사이트d still be affected by its rules if we wanted access to the single market 바카라 사이트 we just wouldn바카라 사이트t have any influence over them.
Just ask Switzerland.
There바카라 사이트s a reason their banks base substantial operations inside the UK: they have no agreement that guarantees their access to the single market.
And then there is Norway.
As their Prime Minister said only last week: 바카라 사이트We lack influence in important decision-making processes in the EU. We have special arrangements on some issues, but basically we have lost our sovereignty.바카라 사이트
That is what the Norwegian Prime Minister is saying outside of the EU because of the relationships they바카라 사이트ve signed with the EU. Now that바카라 사이트s a really important point.
Remain: trade deals
The third big advantage of the single market is that it actually helps us to trade the world over.
Those who imply there is some sort of choice, between trading with Europe on the one hand and trading with the rest of the world on the other hand, are wrong.
It바카라 사이트s not either/or. We바카라 사이트ve got to do both.
Indeed, the fact that we are part of such a huge market 바카라 사이트 of 500 million people 바카라 사이트 means our companies have the platform to grow, scale up quickly and take on the world.
But on top of that, our membership of the single market means we are able to trade with many more countries beyond Europe, on a preferential basis, because the EU has free trade agreements with them.
Adding those countries 바카라 사이트 like Mexico and South Korea 바카라 사이트 to EU member states means we can trade more easily with a third of the entire world.
This really matters.
The EU-South Korea trade deal may not sound like a big deal for Britain, but ask the people who work in this industry.
Since it was implemented, car exports from Britain to South Korea have nearly quadrupled.
And this is just the beginning.
I put at the front and centre of my renegotiation clear commitments to complete more preferential trade and investment deals right across the world.
There are another 9 on the way 바카라 사이트 from Japan to India and America.
Take the EU-US trade deal, known as the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
When complete, it will make it easier for one of the world바카라 사이트s richest economies to buy British products.
But it isn바카라 사이트t just about the big industries that benefit. It바카라 사이트s also the small ones.
A company like Amtico flooring 바카라 사이트 they could be free from tariffs of up to 12.5% if they are allowed to send their stock between their Coventry and Atlanta plants.
Think of Five Point Plus, who make car harnesses for children. They could sell their products to many more people.
So we should see British business after business break into America 바카라 사이트 thanks to our deal through the EU 바카라 사이트 which could make our economy up to Β£10 billion a year better off.
Leave: trade deals
If we vote to stay in a reformed Europe, we know we get these preferential trade deals.
But again, a vote to leave is a vote for huge uncertainty.
Leave campaigners say countries would queue up to sign trade deals with us, and sign them quickly.
But I believe that is guesswork. And guesswork at a time when we need facts.
One fact is this: it can take years to strike trade deals. The Canada-EU deal took 7 years and it바카라 사이트s still not implemented.
And that바카라 사이트s ignoring the fact that many of these countries may not even start negotiations until they know what relationship we have with Europe once we바카라 사이트ve left.
What would happen to British jobs and business in that time?
Here바카라 사이트s another fact: if Britain voted to leave, there바카라 사이트s a process under Article 50 of the European Treaty which would give us 2 years before all the trade deals we have through the EU 바카라 사이트 with over 50 countries 바카라 사이트 would fall away.
Are those who advocate leaving saying they would바카라 사이트ve sorted out individual replacements with each territory and each bloc in that time?
Fact number 3: countries like America have said they would much rather do regional trade deals like the one we are currently negotiating.
As the US Trade Representative put it: the United States is 바카라 사이트not particularly in the market for free trade agreements with individual countries바카라 사이트.
Now look what happens to those countries who do such deals.
When Switzerland signed a trade deal with China, they had to scrap tariffs on nearly all their Chinese imports, while some Chinese tariffs would only be dismantled over 10 or even 15 years.
So this is the question: if we left Europe, who would we sign trade deals with? How long would that take? What would be the terms? How can we be sure no jobs would go in the meantime?
We can바카라 사이트t.
A vote to leave is a leap in the dark.
Families바카라 사이트 finances
So that바카라 사이트s what our membership of a reformed Europe offers: certainty.
Tariffs abolished. Non-tariff barriers eliminated. A deeper single market completed. Trade deals with the rest of the world signed.
Again, as Mark Carney has said, our continued membership reinforces our economic dynamism and leaving as he put it would be 바카라 사이트the biggest domestic risk to financial stability바카라 사이트.
When it comes to the single market, we can chart the sort of positive gains we will be looking at as it completes the reforms I바카라 사이트ve secured.
The single market in services could see GDP increase by 2%, action on e-commerce through the digital single market could be worth 1.7% of EU GDP and those forthcoming trade deals could boost our GDP, too.
These gains cannot be dismissed.
Every 1% increase in GDP is equivalent to more than an additional Β£275 per person.
And this extra growth could also mean billions more in tax receipts to spend on our schools, our hospitals, our army and our police.
So this is the bright future we could have in a reformed Europe.
Let me be clear: this isn바카라 사이트t the whole economic case for membership; it is just the gains we can get from staying in a reformed single market 바카라 사이트 there will be fuller Treasury analysis in the coming weeks.
But it does show the sort of gains our membership of a reformed European Union could deliver.
And compare that to the alternatives.
We바카라 사이트ve had some of the key leave campaigners admitting various things about leaving Europe in the last few weeks.
They바카라 사이트ve said it might lead to job losses.
That there would be dislocation, uncertainties and costs.
That there would definitely be some problems, even pain.
That they cannot offer any guarantee that jobs wouldn바카라 사이트t be lost.
That there could be higher tariffs.
And that there would be an economic shock.
It바카라 사이트s worth remembering what a shock really means.
It means pressure on the pound sterling. It means jobs being lost. It means mortgage rates might rise. It means businesses closing. It means hardworking people losing their livelihoods.
For those who advocate leaving, lost jobs and a dented economy might be collateral damage, or a price worth paying.
For me, they바카라 사이트re not. They never are. Because there바카라 사이트s nothing more important that protecting people바카라 사이트s financial security.
That바카라 사이트s why I believe we are better off in.
Conclusion
And it바카라 사이트s not just me. So many who create jobs and growth in this country agree.
Look back over the past 3 weeks.
Carmakers, like BMW, Ford, and yes, Vauxhall.
Telecoms companies, like BT and Vodafone.
Aerospace manufacturers, like Rolls Royce and Airbus.
Retailers, like Asda and Mothercare.
Pharmaceutical companies, like AstraZeneca and GSK.
Travel firms, like EasyJet and Tui.
And our biggest investors, like O2 and General Electric.
Together, along with a whole host of other businesses, all have said we are better off in.
Now those on the other side may plead it바카라 사이트s all a conspiracy of scaremongering.
I would ask yourself: is it?
Because these companies are actually making a positive case 바카라 사이트 positive arguments about jobs and investment but they also know how fragile the global economy is 바카라 사이트 and how perilous it would be for Britain to burn bridges with our biggest trading partner.
So this is the message I want to go out 바카라 사이트 to the eurosceptic and the agnostic; the floating voter and the first-time voter:
Taking advantage of the single market is one of the ways this country has made itself great.
As I바카라 사이트ve said before, I don바카라 사이트t love Brussels; I love Britain 바카라 사이트 and my mission is to make it greater still.
Looking at what the experts say and the way the evidence points and viewing it all in the light of our financial security, and what makes our people better off, I believe the best way to do that is by remaining in a reformed Europe.
And I hope that바카라 사이트s what we바카라 사이트ll do 바카라 사이트 for the sake of every family in our great nation.
Thank you.