How Much Can the British Like the E.U.?

With Brexit heading towards an unending deferral, NBC News finds Europeans understand very little how EU works, other than expressing how they like it.

The privilege of few borders, easy travel and free trade come in part because of the alliance. Out of a common goal for peace in a war-torn Europe 5 years after World War II, France and Germany devised a plan to avoid the two countries going to war again. Six nations reached a deal to pool their coal and steel resources in 1950. A treaty signed in Rome 7 years later formed the European Economic Community (EEC), which subsequently became today's European Union. The UK was one of three new members in 1973. Today the EU has 28 member states with a total population of more than 500 million, including Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Britain, Ireland, Denmark, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Eastern Germany, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia.

Four institutions work together to run the EU: the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the Court of Justice. According to Treasury data, the UK contributed £8.5bn to EU in 2015. Each country receives money back from the EU to support development and other projects. The UK also gets a rebate, on its contribution, because much of the budget is spent on agricultural subsidies and the UK does not gain nearly as much as other countries like France. After all repayments were taken into account in 2015, Britain contributed about 12.6% of the entire EU budget. Germany paid the largest share, 21.36% and France was the second-biggest contributor at 15.72%.

Starting out as a trading bloc, the EEC promotes free movement of goods and services within the Common Market, and now advances its initiatives to encompass regional inequalities reduction, environment preservation, human rights support and education and research investment.

The EU is Britain's biggest trading partner. British citizens can work in any EU country. EU funding sponsors farmers, boosts job markets, redevelops poor areas, and supports research. The EU has made travel more affordable by challenging monopolies and creating competition. It has cut down the cost of mobile data roaming and set other living standards in Europe.

On the other hand, giving subsidies to farmers has led to surplus of some crops. The EU’s regulations are costly to the British economy, and without its overpowering control, Britain would be more likely to establish trade relations with countries like China and India. Some believe Britain is being restrained by the EU, gains little for the money it pays in and would be better taking back control. Others opt for the benefits of staying in the EU. To this day, the conundrum of Brexit is still unfolding and has yet to be resolved.

英国人能多爱欧盟？

当英国脱离欧盟议案历经无休止推迟之时，NBC新闻台进行一项调查，发现欧洲人除了能表达其对该联盟之喜爱之外，对其来龙去脉及工作方式了解甚少。

由于欧洲联盟之存在，欧洲人得以享受无边界限制，轻松旅行和自由贸易的特权。欧盟乃是法国和德国在第二次世界大战后5年，因饱受战争蹂躏为实现和平的共同目标而制定的一项避免两国再次发生战争之计划而衍生。 1950年，六个国家达成了一项集中煤炭和钢铁资源的协议。7年后各国在罗马签署的一项条约组成了欧洲经济共同体（EEC），后来成为今天的欧盟。英国是1973年的三个新成员之一。今天，欧盟有28个成员国，总人口超过5亿，包括比利时，法国，德国，意大利，卢森堡，荷兰，英国，爱尔兰，丹麦，希腊，葡萄牙，西班牙，东德，奥地利，芬兰，瑞典，罗马尼亚，保加利亚和克罗地亚。

欧盟乃由四个机构共同管理：欧洲委员会，欧洲议会，欧洲联盟理事会和法院。根据其财政部的数据，2015年英国向欧盟提供了85亿英镑的资金。每个国家都从欧盟获得资金来支持各国发展和其他项目。由于大部分预算用于农业补贴，英国的收入几乎与法国等其他国家相同，因此英国可以获得回扣。计算所有还款后，英国于2015年贡献了整个欧盟预算的12.6％。德国支付最大份额，占21.36％，法国是第二大贡献者，占15.72％。

作为一个贸易集团，欧洲经济共同体促进共同市场内的商品和服务的自由流动，当今也进一步采取措施来减少区域不平等之现象，并保护环境生态，支持人权以及教育和研究投资。

欧盟是英国最大的贸易伙伴。英国公民可以在任何欧盟国家工作。欧盟之资今赞助农民，促进就业市场，重建贫困地区，并支持研究。通过挑战垄断和创造竞争，欧盟使旅行更加实惠，且降低移动数据漫游的成本，并提升欧洲生活水平。

另一方面，向农民提供补贴导致一些农作物生产过剩。欧盟的法规对英国经济来说代价高昂，如果没有欧盟对其加以强大的控制，英国将更有可能与中国和印度等国家建立贸易关系。有些人认为英国受到欧盟的限制，回收不足，不如收回本国自主控制权。另外也有人选择留在欧盟。直到今天，英国退欧的难题仍处于演进状态，尚未得到解决。