Whether or not being part of the European Union has worsened the country or not is something of an emotive subject for many - particularly those who do not want to be part of Europe. It is likely that the number of different responses to the question will equal the number of people asked, with varying strength of feeling.
It would be easy to find people at either end of the spectrum, with some people not believing that any harm has resulted from being part of the European Union at all. At the other end, some people are so adamant that being part of the European Union has a negative effect on the country that they campaign to leave it.
Advancing this idea further, entire political parties have grown from the ideology of leaving the European Union, with this being the very first item on their manifesto and any others being mere filler.
As a lay person, it is impossible for me to truly know what goes on when each of the European Union member states get together to make legislation and regulations. However, the result seems to be that Great Britain is unable to take care of its own affairs and has to defer to the other member states in order to reach a decision about anything. This makes it seem as though Great Britain 'has no teeth' and must comply with the rules as laid down by the European Union.
This is especially galling for some people when it comes to having to abide by regulations that do not have much relevance in this country, but seem to relate better to one or more of the other member states.
The country is effectively forced to be lead by what other member states want to achieve.
Whether dealing with an individual or an entire nation, reputation counts for a lot and being guilty by association is a risk that that can be seen as a detrimental result from being part of the European Union.
While it can be argued that the county knew what it was getting into when it joins, this does not take into account countries that join subsequently.
This results in the country being allied with member countries that have poor relationships with countries outside of the European Union that them look on Great Britain disapprovingly and with mistrust.
