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Quadriga - EU Without Britain? - A Dangerous Gamble

July 3, 2014

British Prime Minister David Cameron's bid to block Jean-Claude Juncker from the post of European Commission President has reignited the debate over Britain's possible exit from the EU. Juncker supports further integration but London wants national parliaments to have a greater say in how the bloc is run. How likely is Britain's exit from the EU and what would the consequences be?

https://p.dw.com/p/1CVU0

Apart from Hungary, Britain was the only country to oppose Jean-Claude Juncker's nomination for the head of the European Commission at last week's EU summit of leaders.

EU Parlamentswahl 25.05.2014 Juncker
Image: John Thys/AFP/Getty Images

Juncker's conservative European People's Party won the most seats in May's European elections, and now that he's nominated, he's sure to be elected commission president by the EU parliament. David Cameron is against the parliament deciding who gets the job. Juncker is a committed European federalist who wants deeper integration of EU countries. Cameron would like to see a more reform-minded person leading the commission who would allow national parliaments to say how the bloc is run.

Symbolbild EU Osterweiterung Mitglieder 2004
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Since joining in 1973, Britain has valued the EU more as a trading bloc rather than as a group of countries striving for greater political union. The majority of Britons are against introducing the euro and want to leave the EU. The eurosceptic UKIP won Britain's May elections and took votes both from Cameron's Conservative party as well as the opposition Labour. Cameron says he will hold a referendum on EU membership in 2017 if his party wins the most seats in the next election.

EU Gipfel David Cameron 27.06.2014
Image: Reuters

Brexit -- Britain's exit from the EU -- appears more likely than ever before. Would Britain be better outside the EU? Can the EU live without Britain?

Tell us your opinion. Write to us: quadriga@dw.de

EU Without Britain? - A Dangerous Gamble

Our guests:

07.11.2013 DW Quadriga David Charter
Image: DW

David Charter - he is the Berlin Correspondent of the British newspaper The Times. He has worked at the newspaper in various roles including Chief Political Correspondent from 2001-2006. After that he served as the newspapers´ EU-Correspondent in Brussels for five years. He is also the author of "Au Revoir Europe: What if Britain left the EU?".

20.02.2014 DW QUADRIGA Gast Johannes Leithäuser

Johannes Leithäuser - is a historian, political scientist and an economist. As a student, he freelanced for a number of newspapers, before eventually taking a job with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He's been there ever since. Fifteen years ago he joined the paper's Berlin bureau as its East German correspondent. He also served as a correspondent in London for several years. Today, his areas of expertise include domestic politics, as well as European and foreign affairs.

23.05.2013 DW Quadriga Alan Posener

Alan Posener - was born in London and grew up in Kuala Lumpur and West - Berlin. A teacher by training, he quit school to become a freelance author and journalist. He worked as an editor and author for the German newspaper “Die Welt” and was chief of commentary for "Welt am Sonntag". At the present, he contributes to a variety of media, among them the debate magazine The European. Posener is the author of several critically acclaimed books, among them biographies of the American idols John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Elvis Presley.