News Analysis: MEPs foresees EU as less influential, imbalanced without Britain

Several members of European Union (EU) parliament think the EU would lose power and equilibrium if Britain votes to leave the 28-member bloc in a crucial referendum on Thursday.

Vice-president of the European Parliament Ryszard Czarnecki, an MEP from Poland, said here "the EU without the UK would be weaker inside and outside, for sure less influential at an international level in our U.S. relations now that we are negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)."

Regarding relations with Russia, the vice-president said a Brexit would be "a catastrophe" and "the delicate balance of powers in the EU will be broken."

Asked about the role the migration issue had played as one of the main drivers for the "Leave" campaign, Czarnecki said that about 12 years ago Britain opened its doors to immigrants from central and eastern Europe and this was not an EU decision, adding the initiative had been good for the British economy.

The Polish MEP argued immigration issues in Britain were in British hands, not in those of the EU.

Questioned about the possibility of other countries leaving the EU, he said "Poland and Czech Republic are only very skeptical about entering the eurozone, but we fully support our 'stay' in the EU."

Moreover, according to Czarnecki, in the short term, an EU without Britain would be a big problem for the EU because it would slow down the European economy.

Alessia Mosca, an Italian MEP and member of the Parliament's Committee on International Trade, said a Brexit would be a very big danger for the entire EU because it could push other countries to take the same referendum path.

Mosca explained the positive role played by Britain as an EU member: "Having various different member states is a guarantee that nobody is dominating. During these years, the UK presence was an essential balancing tool in some ruling attitudes of the other big countries, especially Germany."

According to Mosca, on the commercial side, Britain is always a driver for EU trade to become one of the most important policies.

Nuno Melo, an MEP from the Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) of the parliament, said "when we speak in Europe about the Franco-German leadership, the presence of the UK is important to balance this powerful duo so the impact of a possible Brexit will have consequences."

Melo said "the economic cost will be strong on both sides because many shareholders and owners of some of the biggest UK companies are holding European capitals like, for example, in the car industry."

Melo said an obvious plus of remaining in the EU would be that British small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners would have more negotiating power being in a market of more than 500 million consumers rather than one of 65 million.

According to the Portuguese MEP, the "Leave" vote is only driven by an emotional reaction to immigration, but in economic terms, British entrepreneurs have everything to gain by being in the EU.

Asked about the immigration issue raised during the campaign, Melo said "if in Britain, someone feels that there are problems with immigration the answer is in Britain rather than Europe because London, which is not part of the Schengen treaty, can already put in place all the necessary measures to manage the problem." Endit