Bachelor Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Business economics - General, grade: 2:1, De Montfort University Leicester, course: International Business and Globalisation, language: English, abstract: One of the main political issues plaguing the UK at the moment is the potential referendum on the UK leaving the EU, this has been pushed by Eurosceptics on both Conservative backbenches and also shown through the large number of votes and support of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) at the general election in 2015. The purpose behind this study is to understand and evaluate the potential consequences of the United Kingdom (UK) leaving the European Union (EU) on the UK's economic, political and social landscape. The study will investigate the UK's relationship and identity with Europe including past referenda and treaties to analyse the public's opinion on the issue while also concluding that the UK could gain some major benefits such as international trade and a control on immigration from leaving the EU but may lose out on the shaping of Europe, while potentially losing its gateway to Europe status for trade unless the UK's position could be renegotiated to include continued free trade with Europe. This study is important to be conducted due to the significance of an impending referendum by 2016/17 and is thereby important to evaluate in a non-biased way a guidance for the public to make up their mind.