Review of the balance of competences between the United Kingdom and the European Union

Membership of the EU is in the UK's national interest.

But the EU needs to reform to meet Europe's three urgent challenges: globalisation, the crisis in the Eurozone and democratic legitimacy.

The Government has pursued a range of measures to address each of these issues over the last two years, has plans for further action and wants to examine the balance of the EU's existing competences.

This review will be an audit of what the EU does and how it affects the UK.

It will look at where competence lies, how the EU's competences are used, and what that means for UK national interest.

The current report discusses Britain's role in the EU and how the EU's powers will be examined