Another advantage to firms would be that if you want to travel to a different county in the EU to work or live then it is much easier now than it used to be because there is a lot more trust between the countries as a result of the EU and the treaties which each county has agreed to follow.
More trading between countries is another result of the barriers which were lifted. More trading means a larger GDP for England and in turn increases the economy benefiting everyone in it.
Standards in the EU have been agreed in all countries so if a company in England makes a product than it can be sold in all of the other EU countries without having to be checked if it already complies with English standard laws because England’s standard laws are the same as all of the other countries in the EU.
The minimum wage for workers is also being made the same throughout the EU so that no countries firms have any advantages over anothers. E.g. if the minimum wage in Spain is £3 or the equivalent in Euros and the minimum wage in England £4 firms in Spain will have an unfair advantage over firms in England because they are able to pay worker less.
Since we joined the EU firms in this country have been able to employ people from other countries more easily to work here which is good if there was a shortage of labour.
Problems
Even though there are lots of advantages to firms of being in the EU there are also bad points as well.
Firms who want to trade worldwide and be successful will need to not only sell to companies in the EU but to companies outside of it as well. Any products that are being sold to countries out of the EU still have to be paid duties on.
Language barriers between England and foreign countries in the EU is also a problem when doing business.
For big companies new EU laws will stop them from fixing prices between them so that they can sell their goods at a higher price. This is bad because it will mean that they do not make as much money as they could have.
Some countries in the EU have difficulty in accepting each others standards and qualifications which makes the movement of workers between different countries in the EU more difficult.
These are all problems of firms in England being part of the EU.
Balanced Conclusion
Even though there are a similar amount of advantages and disadvantages to being in the EU it is much better being in than out. Getting rid of the duties and tariffs between countries has saved a lot of money for firms in the UK and as a results has brought the prices down of the goods they sell, which make them cheaper for customers who buy more and increase spending which increases the economy.
Even though language is a problem most people in the other countries speak English anyway so often you can deal in business with foreign firms easily as English is the second language in most countries.
I think that firms in the UK are better off being in the EU than out of it because of all the advantages that I have said above.
Bibliography
www.google.com
www.europa.com
Business and Economics (for GCSE) Second Edition
Business Coursework
Do UK firms benefit overall from membership of EU?
John Metcalfe
