The review, launched almost three years ago, is the most extensive examination ever conducted of the impact the European Union has on vast swathes of a nation’s daily activities. It took civil servants 30 months to compile the 32 reports after sifting through nearly 2,300 pieces of written evidence.
No other government has ever conducted such an ambitious and comprehensive exercise. The closest comparable initiative came from the Dutch, but their review, published in July 2013, considered only the twin…