Undersökning: Hälften av britterna vill lämna EU

The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum is scheduled to take place before the end of 2017. Membership of the European Union has been a controversial issue in the United Kingdom since the UK joined the then European Economic Community in 1973. A bill providing for the referendum is currently before the British Parliament, having been agreed in principle by both houses. The bill follows a Conservative Party manifesto commitment to hold such a referendum. It will be the second referendum to be held on EU membership in the UK. The last was held in 1975 when membership was approved by 67% of voters. The referendum will also be held in, and affect the status of Gibraltar, a UK overseas territory. Those in favour of a British withdrawal from the European Union – sometimes shortened as Brexit – argue that outside the EU, the UK would be better able to better control immigration, better positioned to conduct its own trade negotiations, and freed from what they believe to be unnecessary EU regulations and bureaucracy. Those in favour of remaining in the EU argue that leaving the EU would risk the UK's prosperity, diminish its influence over world affairs, and result in trade barriers between the UK and the EU.