The Economics of the UK's EU Membership

The Economics of the UK’s EU membership
23rd February 2016,
National Institute for Economic and Social Research
2 Dean Trench Street, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HE

Summary

As the referendum on British membership of the EU fast approaches, debates about the economic costs and benefits of this membership are already beginning to take centre stage. As in many other areas of the campaign, there is a danger that assertion will take the place of evidence based argument in the cases made by both sides.

The purpose of this conference was to bring together leading economists working on the questions related to UK and European relations to present their latest findings on the costs and benefits of membership. The aim was to present the findings of up to date and rigorous economic assessments to an audience of key non-academic stakeholders and opinion formers. This conference took place over two working days after the key European Council meeting scheduled to consider the UK’s proposals for reform of the EU.

This event is funded by the ESRC’s The UK in a Changing Europe initiative in partnership with

 9:30am Registration

10:00 Session one
EU and the UK Macroeconomic Framework
Chair, Angus Armstrong, NIESR TBC
Lord Norman Lamont, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1990-93

11.15 Refreshment Break

11.30 Session two
UK in an “ever-closer union”
Chair, Anand Menon, King’s College London
Enrico Spolaore, Tufts University
Lucrezia Reichlin, London Business School
Nauro Campos, Brunel

12:30 Lunch

1.30 Session three
Sterling within the EU
Chair, Vera Troeger, Warwick
Karl Whelan, University College Dublin
Gerard Lyons, Chief Economic Adviser to the Mayor of London
Paul de Grauwe, London School of Economics

2.30 Refreshment Break

3.00 Session four
The UK and the EU budget
Chair, Monique Ebell, NIESR
David Philips, Institute for Fiscal studies
Sascha Becker, Warwick University
John Springford, Centre for European Reform

4.00 Refreshments Break

4.30 Session five
EU membership and UK economic performance
Chair, Jonathan Portes, NIESR
Nick Crafts, Warwick University
Patrick Minford, Cardiff
Martin Wolf, Financial Times

 5:30pm Drinks reception