How the EU works

21 February 2020

You can have freedom of movement outside the EU if you’re in the single market

Norway and some other countries follow the free movement rules of the single market without being EU members.

9 December 2019

Is the European Commission unelected or undemocratic?

This article is part of our Ask Full Fact series on the 2019 general election, answering your questions about the election, from claims the main parties are making to what happens on polling day.

30 September 2019

EU staff don’t lose their pensions for criticising the EU

A viral post falsely claims senior EU employees don’t criticise the EU because they’d lose their pensions.

5 July 2019

Was the new President of the European Commission democratically elected?

Ursula von der Leyen is the nominee for President of the European Commission. Her nomination will be confirmed if approved by the European Parliament.

12 June 2019

The EU hasn’t said Brexit will collapse the EU budget

The EU didn’t admit its budget will collapse without the UK’s contribution post-Brexit. The EU are in the process of agreeing a budget, without the UK, for 2021-27.

12 June 2019

The UK can’t be forced into an “EU Army”

If the UK stays in the EU, it wouldn’t be forced into participating in an EU army. The UK has a veto on military policy.

17 May 2019

Polish pensions are not directly subsidised by the UK

As of 2018, the most common retirement age for men and women in the EU was 65. In some countries, women can retire as early as 60.

16 May 2019

This post about EU budget contributions is misleading

The next EU budget is being planned to exclude the UK, and we also don’t know for sure what would happen to the UK’s rebate if it stayed in the EU.

10 May 2019

The UK can’t be forced to leave the EU or to join the euro

The UK cannot be forced to join the euro if it remains a member of the EU. The EU could apply political pressure on the UK to do so, but this is highly unlikely in the current political context.

7 May 2019

The UK won’t have to adopt the Euro by 2020

Even if the UK is still in the EU next year, the Lisbon treaty does not force it to adopt the Euro. The UK has an opt-out from this.

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You can have freedom of movement outside the EU if you’re in the single market

Is the European Commission unelected or undemocratic?

EU staff don’t lose their pensions for criticising the EU

Was the new President of the European Commission democratically elected?

The EU hasn’t said Brexit will collapse the EU budget

The UK can’t be forced into an “EU Army”

Polish pensions are not directly subsidised by the UK

This post about EU budget contributions is misleading

The UK can’t be forced to leave the EU or to join the euro

The UK won’t have to adopt the Euro by 2020

Full Fact fights bad information