Britons have cited an array of complaints about belonging to the European Union, from immigration to a lack of local control. But the organization itself has also generated feelings of ill will. Here are some of the reasons, Britons love to hate the EU:

Pay for EU bureaucrats

Even as individual nations across Europe have had to impose grinding austerity measures, including slashing pay for government workers, most European Union employees get paid generous wages with special, minimal taxes. The Telegraph – an anti-EU newspaper – found in 2014 that many mid-level EU workers were taking home more money than British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Overreaching regulation

In Britain, the famous “bendy banana” came to be a symbol of Brussels regulatory overreach, when Brussels set guidelines that bananas should be “free from malformation or abnormal curvature.” Those advocating Brexit said Britons could decide for themselves how bent their bananas could be.

Lack of accountability

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The big decisions in the EU get hammered out behind closed doors, whether it’s inside the European Commission or at meetings of EU leaders or ministers. Unlike lawmakers in national legislatures, where much of the sausage-making happens in the open, EU leaders bargain in private, then announce their decisions afterward.

A Babylon of costly translations

Depending on how you read it, you might find the EU’s tendency to translate nearly everything it does into all 24 of its official languages a testimony to its internationalist glory or a wasteful use of resources. By EU custom, all public EU documents are translated into every language. All high-level EU meetings are the same way. The European Commission says it employs 1,750 linguists, 600 full-time interpreters and 3,000 freelancers.

Unnecessary bureaucracy

Every EU member state gets to appoint a commissioner.As the EU expanded, it needed to dream up new cabinet agencies to match the number of members.


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