Okay, but apart from stopping warOne of the EU's founding goals was to make war in Europe less likely. Europe had been tearing itself apart for centuries, but countries that trade a lot and have mixed populations tend to avoid war. So far, it's worked: there's been no wars between members of the European Union since it was formed, and this period has been the longest period of peace since the Pax Romana ended in 180 AD., cleaner waterThe UK only had 27 beaches safe for swimming in the 1970s. These days, thanks to environmental policies, the UK has almost 600. That's partially down to us not pumping waste directly into the sea, but also thanks to those policies preventing our neighbours from doing so too., developing our citiesThe EU has a structural fund for developing places that lack investment. Sometimes it's infrastructure (such as airports, ferry terminals, and other public transport in Liverpool); sometimes it's industry (such as about £500,000,000 of investment in Cornwall between 2014 and 2020); sometimes it's culture (such as Birmingham's Thinktank Museum, International Dance Festival, and Symphony Hall). These funds boost regional development, and help reduce the economic north-south divide., paying for broadband in rural areasThe EU put around £50,000,000 of investment into Cornwall's broadband infrastructure, bringing broadband to areas without high-speed internet. The EU's budgeted about £8,500,000,000 for UK structural investment between 2014 and 2020., protecting maternity leave & paySeveral conservative think tanks would like to eliminate maternity leave, and the Conservatives have seriously considered axing them. Fortunately, the EU's parental leave directive sets out a legal minimum for time off, maternity pay, and the right to return to your job., funding our scientific researchEU scientists authors 34% of the world's publications, the most of any region on earth. One example is the Horizon 2020 programme, a cross-border funding programme that's putting about £63,000,000,000 into European research between 2014 and 2020. The UK's a big beneficiary of EU science funding; we get about £1,000,000,000 a year right now, which includes about 41% of the UK's cancer research funding and 62% of funding for nanotechnology. It also includes engineering research; Rolls-Royce received £51,000,000 of grant funding over the last decade., peace in Northern IrelandIt's not all down to the EU, but the EU's helped to end the Troubles between the Republic of Ireland and the UK. As well as around a billion pounds of funding, the European Convention of Human Rights is a keystone in the Good Friday Agreement. The border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is also a land border with the EU, so leaving the EU could see that border hardened and tensions reignited., improving our sausagesEU regulations on food labelling mean that UK sausages have to indicate how much mechanically recovered meat they contain. Consumers find that unappetising, leading to higher-quality ingredients being used – which leads to a tastier sausage. British manufacturers are in favour., giving our pensioners a sunny place to retireHundreds of thousands of British citizens live in Spain (319,000 says the Telegraph, 761,000 says the BBC). Around 384,000 more live in France, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands. All of them have the right to use the local healthcare, claim benefits in their host country, and work there too (if they want to)., fighting international crimeEuropol is a Europe-wide police agency that battles international crime. It co-ordinates investigations between the police forces of various countries, such as UK credit card numbers being fraudulently used abroad and identifying victims of child sexual abuse. The UK also gets access to the Schengen Information System, a database of people & property of interest. The UK's denied entry to 6,000 EU nationals on the basis of this information since 2010., making it cheaper to use your phone abroadThe EU's already made it much cheaper to use your phone when on holiday, and as of 2017 mobile phone companies won't be able to add any extra charges at all., preventing tortureThe EU has a number of bodies that fight torture, both within the EU and outside it. Organisations like the CPT can speak with the full weight of Europe behind them. The European Court of Human Rights has made a number of judgements relating to whether people were tortured, both by EU member states and others. The UK's record on torture, even on its own citizens, is hardly perfect., supplying booze for our partiesIf you pop over to France on the ferry, you can buy as much booze as you like and bring it back to the UK without paying any import duties, as long as it's for personal use. It's a popular way to save money and have a nice day out, especially if you live in or close to Kent., protecting our unique produceThe UK makes a number of traditional products that are unique – things like Kentish ale, Cornish pasties, Wensleydale cheese, and Scotch beef. There's 73 products from the UK that are protected names throughout the EU, meaning nobody can imitate it or claim to be making it if they're outside the country or not using the traditional methods., entertaining our childrenThe EU's Creative Europe scheme has put around £78,000,000 into the UK's creative sector between 2007 and 2013, helping to fund programmes like Shaun the Sheep and Room on the Broom., stopping monopolies from manipulating pricesPrices go down when businesses compete fairly, because excess profits encourage new businesses & other competitors to undercut them. The EU competition commission works to ensure that big businesses can't use their greater resources to manipulate the markets, and can consider behaviour across Europe. JCB was fined £22,000,000 by the commission for trying to stop people buying equipment more cheaply in other EU countries. The commission also prevented O₂ from merging with Three, due to fears that fewer mobile companies would lead to higher prices for consumers., protecting our fishFish stocks around the UK were in a perilous state at the start of the 21st century. Overfishing threatened to wipe out the fish and the industries that depend on them. But safe fish stocks are now at their highest level since the 1980s and the percentage of overfished stocks has dropped from 94% to 39% in 2013. It's also led to a 41% increase in net profit for fishermen., supplying most of our importsWe buy around 54% of our imports from the EU, and our EU membership means we don't have to worry about tariffs or quotas., propping up the UK farming industryThe EU paid around £2,400,000,000 to British farmers in 2015, around 55% of their annual income. A large number of farms can't survive without this support; the National Farmer's Union believes that remaining in the EU is better for UK farmers., stronger consumer protection lawsWhen you buy something online, you have 14 days to change your mind. However you buy, you have the right to a free 2 year guarantee. Both of these are thanks to the EU., protecting whistleblowers who report state wrongdoingGovernments don't always obey the law, and will often try to cover that up. Strong journalism is one way to combat that; protecting whistleblowers is another. There's EU legislation that protects people who come forward to report such activity., stopping your boss from working you into the groundThe EU working time directive means you have the right to work 48 hours or less per week, get at least 1 day off in every 7, and get at least 4 weeks of annual leave. Plus, workers in the UK can opt out if they want to work longer – the best of both worlds., letting us opt out of EU policiesThe UK has a number of opt-outs from European law: we don't have to abolish border controls, join the Euro, or have an "ever closer union" with Europe. Most EU countries don't get those opt-outs; only Denmark has as many as we do., debunking the nonsense about EU regulations that appears in the tabloidsThe EU actually has an entire blog devoted to dispelling the myths, inaccuracies, and lies about its work that appear in the media. It has a written tone that's dry but direct, as it explains again and again that no, it's not sabotaging British market stalls and no, it's not preventing the NHS from checking doctors' qualifications. They've been at it since 1992 (though probably not in blog form back then), and the archives are worth a browse, especially when they manage to handle the absurd with a perfect deadpan., supplying UK businesses with smart employeesPeople who move to the UK from Europe are more likely to have a degree – 24% of British people have a degree, compared to 25% of EU migrants from the 10 newest EU countries and 62% of migrants from the EU-15., enshrining rights for LGBT peopleEU legislation banning discrimination in the workplace was passed in 2000, but UK laws have lagged behind. Section 28 prevented LGBT-related sexual education and caused LGBT student support groups to close; it wasn't fully repealed until 2004. Same-sex marriage is only recently legal in England, Wales, and Scotland, and still illegal in Northern Ireland. The EU is helping to change attitudes and laws, getting all members to agree to work against all discrimination against LGBT people and increase equality., visiting our country25,400,000 people from Europe visited the UK in 2014 – 74% of all tourists. They spent £11,000,000,000 while they were here. The UK's tourism industry accounts for 9% of employment in the UK and employs 2,800,000 people., keeping bureaucracy to a minimumDespite the EU's reputation for being nothing but red tape and pencil-pushers, it's actually quite a svelte organisation. The UK has around 440,000 civil servants, compared to the 33,000 employed by the European Commission. That's just 7.5% of the UK total, for a population nearly 8 times as big., educating our childrenA university education in the UK costs up to £9,000 a year, but other EU countries are cheaper. It's free in Denmark, Austria, Norway, and Greece; in France, it can be as low as £150 per year. So thousands of students are taking advantage of their EU citizenship to study abroad in Europe's best universities., helping our long-term economic progressWhen the UK joined the EEC, it was known as the sick man of Europe. Access to the EU market helped Britain thrive., cleaner airPolluted air is a major health risk, and parts of the UK have terrible air quality. Despite attempts at avoiding detection the EU is trying to make the UK fix the problem, which will improve public health., protecting our bordersRight now, border controls for UK borders happen in France or Belgium thanks to the Le Toquet treaty. This means that people who don't have the right to enter the UK don't ever reach British soil. France has found it hard to handle the resulting humanitarian crisis, but has stuck to the agreement., filling our tax coffersEU migrants in the UK pay more in tax than they use – more than £20,000,000,000 in the decade up to 2011. That's not even counting the value of their labour to the UK economy., treating our sick citizensThe EHIC scheme provides UK citizens with medical treatment when they're abroad through their host country's health care schemes. UK citizens used medical services valued at £137,200,000, compared to EU citizens using £34,900,000 of services in the UK., cheaper holidaysThe EU opened up air fares to cabotage in the 1990s. This let any EU airline operate flights between two EU countries, no matter the airline's home country. This greater competition drives prices down, making it cheaper to fly in Europe compared to similar journeys elsewhere in the world., and buying almost half of our exportsThe EU has more than 508 million people in it, and British businesses can sell to any of them without having to deal with import taxes or tariffs. EU countries buy 44.6% of Britain's exported goods & services., what has Europe ever done for us?