CBI
In 2013, the CBI worked with YouGov to survey its members for their opinions on the UK’s EU membership. The key results were:
- 78% said they would favour staying in when asked how they would vote if a referendum were to take place “tomorrow”
- 71% said the UK’s membership has had a positive or very positive impact on their businesses, with 16% stating it had no impact and 13% that the impact was negative
- Among the SMEs surveyed, 67% think membership of the EU has had a positive impact (16% no impact, 16% negative)
- When asked to rank their priorities for reform, 46% wanted an end to ‘gold-plating’ of EU legislation and 39% wanted to see EU rules applied evenly across all member states. Other priorities for reform include reducing regulation (39%) and making structural reforms for a more competitive EU (36%)
- 75% think leaving the EU would have a negative impact on the overall level of foreign direct investment in the UK – 9% thought it would increase investment. 35% warned they would be likely to reduce their own business investment in the event of an EU exit, compared to 51% saying there would be no impact and only 6% who stated they would boost investment
- 86% believe that leaving the EU would have a negative impact on UK firms’ access to EU markets (11% thought it would have no impact and only 1% a positive impact)
- 59% thought that an EU exit would reduce the international competitiveness of the UK as a whole, with 15% believing the UK would be unaffected and 23% that there would be a positive impact.
Recent polling by other major business groups on the UK’s EU membership:
The British Chamber of Commerce
The British Chambers of Commerce conducted a survey of 2000 business people in August 2015. When asked if an in-out referendum were to be held tomorrow:
- 63% would vote to remain in the European Union
- 27% would vote to leave
- 10% are unsure.
The Institute of Directors
The Institute of Directors (IOD) released polling results of 1,259 of their members in September 2015:
- 65% agreed with the statement “from my organisation’s perspective, the benefits of the UK remaining a full member of the EU outweigh the negatives”.
The Federation of Small Businesses
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) released results surveying 6,263 of its members in October 2015. The key results:
- 47% said they would vote ‘Yes', the UK should remain a member of the EU"
- 40.9% said they would vote ‘No', the UK should NOT remain a member of the EU"
- 10.7% said they were undecided