ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to test Lamont's claim by compensating for the absence of an official cost-benefit analysis and reviewing the evidence relating to the historical advantages and disadvantages arising from EU membership for the British economy and concentrates upon trade-related matters. A Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was incorporated within the EU integration strategy to maintain the balance of interests between its original six members. The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) constitutes an example of how the UK gave away control of its resources due to EU accession. The European Monetary System (EMS) was created after the break-up of the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system. The devastating experience of Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) participation casts considerable doubt upon UK membership of another fixed exchange rate system, at least in the near future, and similarly it must caution against a perceptive entry into Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) since a forced exit from this scheme would bear a considerably greater cost.
