And part 2:
At the mercy of Germany
REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Concerns over the Single Market being a whole load of poppyrooster are more relevant than ever, especially since the eurozone debt crisis of 2009.
First and foremost, even though we are meant to be part of one big unit, we have no fiscal union to address underperforming areas.
In Britain, for example, London may generate greater amounts of wealth than other parts of the country. If somewhere like Nottingham struggles, the money is redistributed to pay for welfare or prop up the local economy. Infrastructure, like new railway lines, could be installed to link cities and create greater connection for people working or looking to expand business.
In the EU, we don't have this. Just look at Greece and the sorry mess it is in. Sure, we lend money and force the country to gut itself, but a loan is not a redistribution of wealth. Countries that need to devalue their currency to spur exports cannot. The bloc is not a "single" anything.
The EU is not doing as well as it used to, and it is skewed economic reporting that suggests the eurozone is doing great. As demonstrated before, Germany is propping up manufacturing growth figures.
Take a look at how the EU really isn't as well positioned as it was when Britain entered the bloc in 1973:
Change or Go Report
The EU's economy is "shrinking relative to other countries across the globe," and its population is ageing. In 2020, the ratio of working-age people to pensioners in the EU will be 3-to-1, while in 2050 it will be 2-to-1. This is according to a Business for Britain report published in June, which had Mark Littlewood of the Institute of Economic Affairs, John Mills of JML, and fund manager Helena Morrissey of Newton on its editorial board.
They added that tax payments to the EU, the level of bureaucracy, and the changing population are all contributing to greater cost for the nation.
Destroying national sovereignty
REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis
Relinquishing national sovereignty sounds a lot like right-wing hooey, but having a look at how the EU has operated in the worst of times has not resolved any of these concerns.
Sovereignty is meant to be when a state has the absolute power to govern itself; make, execute, and apply laws; and impose and collect taxes.
Of course, being part of a union means we should all technically share that burden and have a say in which laws are enacted, while also making sure others are not penalised to the advantage of other nations. It should not be all bad.
Take a look at Greece again. The country has teetered on the brink of collapse so many times that it might as well jump off the cliff. But it cannot, because it is stuck with loans it does not want that seem near impossible for it to pay back.
The one time it did show some semblance of sovereignty or power was at its referendum on the bailout. The public voted against the extremely harsh (and arguably necessary) conditions in exchange for emergency cash. And we all know how that turned out -
an utterly pointless exercise.
All that happened is that Greece wound up owing its creditors so much that they used it against them in their next round of negotiations.
German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Yanis Varoufakis, theradical left-wing former Greek finance minister, "strains the solidarity of European partners" shortly before Varoufakis left the government.
As for what happened to Greece, the referendum did not make a difference, and it still had to go back to its creditors with its tail between its legs.
We get barely any say
There are a few things that Britons are getting really tired of and a growing mountain of examples to show how the UK does not really have much of a say in what happens within the bloc.
Ideally being part of the EU means we have a seat at the table - the ability to work through what needs to change and address concerns from the UK.
Since 2010, the EU has introduced more than 3,500 new laws affecting British business. Business for Britain highlighted in its report in June last year that the sheer volume of red tape that affects the UK costs billions.
"The British Chambers of Commerce has shown that the total cost of EU regulation is £7.6 billion per year," the report said. "Since the Lisbon Treaty came into force in December 2009, it has cost British businesses £12.2 billion (net) in extra regulation."
Furthermore, Britain doesn't really have as much of a say as I thought.
Business for Britain
"The Commission proposes new laws in the EU, but the UK's representation has declined dramatically and many officials are adamantly opposed to the sort of changes that the UK seeks," the report said.
"When the UK joined the EU in 1973, we had 20% of the votes. Today we only have 9.5% of the votes. British MEPs voted against 576 EU proposals between 2009 and 2014, but 485 still passed and became law."
Zero say over policies
As demonstrated, Britain's economy and society is unique. It does not fall into a hive mind of Europe. No country within the European Union does, which is why a Single Market doesn't actually exist.
At the moment, Britain is dragged into huge game-changing policies that we do not want.
For example, take a look at the financial transactions tax proposal. The FTT, more commonly known as the Robin Hood Tax,
places a 0.05% tax on trades involving stocks, bonds, foreign currency, and derivatives.
The European Commission originally aimed to launch the FTT in January with slightly different tax calculations -
0.1% on shares and 0.01% on bond transactions in which at least one of the parties was based in the EU.
Talks have stalled and remain ongoing.
The Conservative government, the financial sector, and various business groups are heavily against the FTT. The Tory-led government hates the tax proposition so much that
UK Chancellor George Osborne even launched a legal suit against the FTT plan.
Basically, even if Britain doesn't sign up for it, the UK would be still financially penalised if it does business with other countries that sign up for FTT.
Now, I am still not fully up for Britain leaving the European Union - there are still a huge number of advantages of staying in. But the argument for leaving is not looking as scary as I first thought.
We are a nation that depends on imports for energy and goods, and in being part of the EU we have a decent mechanism for trade. Severing links could easily make it more expensive to import or ship goods.
But while a Brexit would be unknown territory, it would not necessarily be all bad in the long run.