Should the U.K. leave the European Union?

British lawmakers are considering a bill that would authorize a popular vote by 2017 on whether the U.K. should leave the European Union.

If put up for a vote, there is a decent chance the measure could pass, considering that only 43 percent of Britons have a favorable view of the E.U.

What's at stake? Pro-exit politicians say that leaving the union would eliminate high membership fees, limit immigration, and free the U.K. from E.U. legislation. Many skeptics of a possible exit focus on what it would mean for trade.

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"Let's be clear. Being a member of a reformed E.U. is the best way to preserve market access," said John Cridland, director general of the Confederation of British Industry.

Vince Cable agrees, writing in The Guardian that such a move would leave U.K. businesses on the outside looking in:

Clive Crook, however, argues in Bloomberg that if the U.K. can't negotiate more favorable terms with the E.U., leaving wouldn't be the end of the world:

Former Tory Chancellor Nigel Lawson, in a much ballyhooed column in The Times of Britain, echoed the argument that global trade would more than make up for loss of access to the single market of the E.U. and that businesses would be liberated from restrictive E.U. regulations.

Robert Peston, business editor at the BBC, doesn't agree: "Those who run our biggest companies would tend to be horrified at the idea of withdrawal from the E.U."

That sentiment is shared by Roland Rudd, chairman of pro-business group Business for New Europe, who released a statement denouncing the idea that the prospect of trade with Asia and other emerging markets makes membership in the E.U. irrelevant:

Most E.U. leaders, such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, would prefer the U.K. stay. The earliest the referendum bill can be debated on the House floor is July 5.