The Green Benefits of Britain’s EU Membership

Before the United Kingdom joined the European Community in 1973, it was often called ‘the dirty man of Europe’ because of its high levels of air and water pollution. Since then, Britain’s environmental performance has improved significantly. This is not solely due to EU membership: Norway demonstrates that it is quite possible to have high standards of environmental protection without being an EU member-state. But green issues are almost always high on the political agenda in Norway. In the UK they are not. British environmental measures tend to be taken in response to major, noticeable crises. Most of the environmental progress in Britain since accession has been a result of European rules.

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