CEBR study claims potential £58bn of growth and 790,000 new jobs would be lost if Britain had to renegotiate access to markets after leaving EU

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

If Britain opts to stay in the European Union and achieves the market reforms it wants, it could receive a £58bn economic boost and 790,000 new jobs by 2030, a London-based economic consultancy has said.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), which produced its report for the campaign group Britain Stronger in Europe, said on Sunday that creating a single digital market and opening up the financial, transport and energy sectors could increase British GDP by 2.8%, equating to £2,832 per household.

Such reform dividends were at risk if Britain had to renegotiate its access to markets after leaving the bloc, the CEBR said.

Britons will decide whether to stay in the EU in a referendum promised before the end of 2017.

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David Cameron is seeking to renegotiate Britain’s role in Europe, including market reforms, ahead of the vote.

Campaigners for leaving the EU say Brussels’ reach in areas such as law has far exceeded the aims of the trade bloc Britain joined in 1973, and that the country pays more in than it gets out.

Stuart Rose, the former boss of Marks & Spencer who is chairing Britain Stronger in Europe, said those campaigning to stay in had to proclaim the benefits of a reformed Europe to the man or woman on the street.

“That’s not an easy task, because for years the people who believe that the UK is stronger, safer and better off in Europe have vacated the field to those who shout the loudest,” he said. “Unfortunately, up to now that has been people on the out side.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Stuart Rose is leading the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

He told the Times on Saturday (£) it could take years for the implications of a no vote to be seen.

“Nothing is going to happen if we come out of Europe in the first five years, probably,” Rose said.

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“There are a huge number of risks, but they’re not all going to be short term. If you vote to come out in the referendum, you’re not going to suddenly find on the Monday morning I can’t do this, this and this. That’s the danger.”

Vote Leave, an out campaign group, said politicians had been promising EU reforms for years, yet every year the EU took more power and money.

“If we vote to leave we will get a free trade deal and we will be able to end the supremacy of EU law in the UK,” said the campaign’s director, Dominic Cummings.