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But they have a huge influence on the European economy.


15 years ago Great Britain was a pretty sad affair and economically a disaster. It is true that they have had an amazing run the last 1,5 decades and are now an economy that is slightly bigger than France,Italy second only to the larger Germany. But that's all. They are one of the 4 big countries and 1/6-1/7 of the population. I do not see a special bigger influence. IMO their stronger ties with the US make their influence on Europe lower not higher (because they are not as interconnected) As to why the UK doesn't have the metric system ... because they didn't want to. Its as easy as that.