During the pandemic, the EU27 gave the EU the ability to take on its own debt, with the EU member states effectively acting as guarantors – and then took on €750bn of debt to give Covid loans to member states. The UK avoided being responsible for this.
Leaving the EU has allowed the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) sole responsibility over investigations into significant mergers affecting the UK economy - no longer only being able to investigate where the EU isn't interested.
Having left the EU, access to the UK welfare system has been equalised for all non-UK citizens present in the UK, irrespective of whether they happen to be from the EU or not. A change not possible as an EU member.
In October 2021, the UK removed the ability for many EU/EEA/EFTA ID cards to be used at the border to gain entry to the UK - and in doing so massively reduced the chances of fraudulent documentation being used to get into the country.
Under EU free movement we had to allow some foreign criminals into the country who would otherwise have been stopped and turned away. Implementing equal treatment of all criminals resulted in over 12,000 EU citizens being refused entry to the UK in 2023.
