Time to Say No: Alternatives to EU Membership

By reducing social and economic inequalities in Europe, and strengthening the rule of law in these countries, we do make a substantial difference. Norway and Britain are very different countries and are in many ways incomparable. Norway has a small, open economy with 5 million people.

Some 75 per cent of our exports go to the EU. The United Kingdom is an international power of 63 million people.

It has a large trading relationship with the EU, but also with the rest of the world. There is more at stake for the United Kingdom. Norwegian diplomats, and to a certain extent politicians, when asked about what European non-EU countries should do, tend to give the advice of joining EU membership. That has especially been the case for the Eastern European countries.

They of course find it peculiar that such advice comes from a non-member. We know that the Prime Minister wants those new arrangements to be successful, allowing him to campaign for Britain to stay in the European Union. In other words, he is doing what he can to push the UK-EU relationship in a positive direction and to stay in the union, but the issue is how he should go about doing that. We live in a time where different countries are at different stages in their EU association.

Countries are opting out and opting in on various agreements. We need to ask some important questions. Do we want a multi-speed Europe and do we want to end up at the same station? Do we want associate memberships and full memberships? Do we want more Europe, or a better Europe? The result may end up being a large union with all member states and a closer community that is based on the Eurozone.

Politicians tend to like evaluations and reports. Of course, you tend to like the reports whose conclusions happen to support your thesis. We received such a report last year: The report concludes that Norway is far more closely associated with the EU than most people realise, yet we simply play an observational role in the EU.

I think Norway is dependent on a sound British voice within the EU. Even though our societies are vastly different, we, the British and Norwegian — and indeed the Nordic Conservatives — are, in the end, all in favour of international cooperation in order to solve cross-national issues. The EU works best when it works together to solve the issues at hand, whether it is brokering peace, helping poor countries develop, through climate negotiations or in trade rounds.

Consequently, we need to strive for the closest possible cooperation when seeking to preserve those values and principles. Please read our comments policy before commenting. Shortened URL for this post: She is a graduate from the University of Bergen and has been a member of the Storting Norwegian Parliament since The European Union is actually the Franco-German rule and lack a democratic legitimacy.

Prime minister Solberg is one of the prominent and ardent supporters of the Franco German rule and is struggling to bring Norway under the rule. But they have been unable to settle on one. In fact, they have deliberately avoided trying because they cannot point to an example which is better than the special status within the EU that we now have on offer.

Every other option has significant drawbacks. And the simple truth is that we cannot know what deal a Britain outside the EU would end up with. The evidence, however, and that is what this paper is about today, suggests that there are three basic models:.

A negotiated bilateral agreement, such as the free trade deals used by Switzerland, Canada, Korea and Turkey; or. And Norway is the non-EU country with the greatest, although still not total, access to the Single Market. It does have the same access in services as the UK has now. But it is outside the Customs Union, meaning that all trade in goods between the EU and Norway is subject to customs checks and Rules of Origin.

And it faces tariffs in agriculture and fish. Norway does also take part in some areas of non-economic co-operation, like counter terrorism. But it pays a price for these privileges. It has to adopt most EU rules, without any say in making them. It pays roughly the same into the EU per person as the UK does. The case of Norway neatly demonstrates the dilemma for Leave: And the more access to the market they promise, the more empty the boast that they would be able to unilaterally control migration from the EU.

And I say this: If we care about real sovereignty, about being able to shape the decisions which affect us, then the Norway model is definitely not for us.

What if we were to make a bilateral agreement? After all, the EU has a broad range of trade agreements with other countries, such as Switzerland, Turkey or Canada.

• Four alternatives to EU membership rejected by the government | Politics | The Guardian?
• Support quality EU news;
• Four alternatives to EU membership rejected by the government!
• Gibraltar irritant.
• The Seers Strength (Dardanos, Co. Book 4);
• Knight of Aegis (The Knight of Aegis Saga Book 1)!
• The Fall of the Alphas: The New Beta Way to Connect, Collaborate, Influence---and Lead.

Some recommend the Swiss model. But it has taken Switzerland two decades to negotiate more than one hundred separate agreements that it currently has with the EU. Even then, they only have partial access to the Single Market. They face barriers for agriculture and, crucially from our point of view, for services.

And once again, they are bound by the principle of free movement of people, with almost four times as many resident EU nationals per capita as in the UK. Others point to Turkey as a model to follow. Now Turkey of course is a candidate country for membership and has been in a Customs Union with the EU since It has full access to the single market for industrial and processed agricultural goods, where it is subject to EU regulations, but no access for raw agricultural products nor again, crucially, services.

And when the EU signs a trade deal with a third country, Turkey must open its market on the same terms. But this is not reciprocal, and the third country is not obliged to open its market to Turkish exports. Turkey does not take part in policing and criminal justice measures; has only limited co-operation on international security, and it has no say in EU decision-making. The EU-Canada deal has taken seven years and counting to finalise and has still not been approved by the European Parliament! When it happens, and it will happen, it will be the most extensive bilateral agreement the EU has ever made.

It gives market access without the free movement of people, and without paying into the EU budget.

Explore the topic

But Canada is not a European country. So Canadian products, like cars, with complex international supply chains may still face tariffs. They have to set up subsidiaries inside EU member states operating under EU regulations; exporting Canadian jobs. This would really matter for Britain: A sk yourself too: Is it because they fear we will be a dreadful failure outside the EU? It is because they fear that we will be a dramatic success, and in so doing encourage other EU members to follow us out. That is oddly inconsistent with the claims of disaster put about by the Remain team. Y es, there have been warnings of destitution and disaster from our European colleagues.

But should we leave, this tone will switch from antagonism to pragmatism.

1. Beach Cottage Bliss!
2. News latest;
3. Twist of Fate Wishbook.

This is the normal pattern of behaviour after a decision is taken, whether in business, diplomacy or politics. David Cameron and Nick Clegg attacked each other remorselessly in the election campaign. Then, within a week, they were sharing a photocall in the Rose Garden of 10 Downing Street. After we leave, the same thing will happen on the Continent. Everyone will gather round the negotiating table and hammer out a deal that benefits everyone. The core of that deal will be our trade with the EU.

Our European neighbours know only too well that the tariff option will hurt key European industries. The negotiations will overlap with general elections in Germany and France. Not even the French will hurt themselves just to hurt us.