Right after winning the parliamentary elections in Great Britain, the Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed his intentions to organize a referendum on the country's membership in European Union. The share of UK GDP is about 15% of EU GDP, so the exit of Great Britain may hit the EU economy and seriously shake the very idea of a European alliance.
The conservative party won the parliamentary elections in the UK. David Cameron, who is the leader of the party and the current Prime Minister, immediately after the announcement of the preliminary result, declared that he will keep his promise, which was made to voters, to hold a referendum on the possibility of UK exit from European Union. "We need to hold a referendum to determine the future of the UK in Europe" - said Cameron, speaking at a polling station in Witney, Oxfordshire, in the south of the country. If the referendum is initiated in the near future, it may take place before the end of 2017.
The number of Britain citizens who would like support the exit from the EU is growing every year. Recent polls have shown that two-thirds are willing to vote for the exit.
The Great Britain is a member of the European Union since 1973, but the country is not part of the Schengen area and the euro area, having its own currency - the pound. But even in the EU you will note that the UK is always apart, having very different opinions on most issues.
The British economy is the third largest in the EU after Germany and France. Its size, being approximately € 1.7 trillion in the recent years, is about 14-15% of EU GDP.
The exit of the UK will reduce the size of the EU economy to the level of 2004 and 2007, when the EU expanded and joined 12 new countries. In addition, the United Kingdom - the third most populous EU country, is home to more than 60 million inhabitants. In other words, every eighth citizen of the European Union is British.
But the way out of the EU has two sides. If the exit is still going to happen, it may be endangering the stability of economic relations. Approximately 40% of the total turnover of the kingdom is in trade with the EU, and 3 million British people are involved. The ING Bank analysts believe that the UK will lose more than it may gain from the exit because of increased risks for investment and trade.