Could someone explain the EEA please?

In the end it will have to be some sort of compromise, not only between the EU and UK but between the half of the country that voted to leave and the half that voted to stay in.

I don't think we could expect the UK, on it own to get the same trading arrangements as either the USA or China and, I don't know about you but I am not aware of exactly what their trading arrangements actually are. It would be a very distorted view of who we are to believe we have the same weight, when it comes to negotiating, as the two largest world powers

Can anyone who voted to remain in the eu name a country that the eu trades with who has to abide by the 4 freedoms.
The eu's largest trading market is the US.
Their second is China.
I think you will agree that neither of these two counties abide by the 'Freedom to live and work'

Is it all a game of bluff and double-bluff?

But if UK is already an EEA. Member and we haven't given notice to quit, shouldn't it be easy to use EEA membership as a basis of our exit from EU?

It would solve the Irish Problem too as we would still be in the customs union.

Could it all be that simple?

Boris, Gove and friends wouldn't accept it. But would May and Davis go for it?

I think we also have to remember that politics is the art of the possible not just what some people think the 48% wanted. It's amazing how many Mystic Meg's have come out of the woodwork since the vote.

But 48% of the vote wanted to retain the 4 freedoms and no one can say what the rest voted for because a yes/ no vote told us nothing.

So I would suggest the EEA is worth being given every consideration.

durhamjens link to Campaign for an Independent Britain has it's place but other voices describe the Liechtenstein situation differently.

infacts.org/liechtenstein-immigration-controls-may-offer-prospects-uk/

" Could Liechtenstein be used a template for Britain to access the single market while diluting free movement rules? Liechtenstein’s “specific geographic situation” couldn’t be more different from that of the UK. Britain’s negotiations will also involve much higher political stakes. What Europe was willing to offer to tiny Liechtenstein may well be impossible to grant to a large, departing EU member, especially if it wants to deter others."

From Merkel / Tusk / Verhofstadt / Junker they have all stated the UK 'Cannot cherry pick' we must abide by the Fore Freedoms / Pillars.

As I see it the clarion call coming from the EU has not shifted from the day of the Referendum result , we cannot stay in the Single Market irrespective of membership to the EU/EFTA/EEA unless we abide by the 4 Freedoms.

It looks to me as if the greater flexibility in the EEA - already used by some countries - might be something for us to look at. That really throws a lot of light on how the EEA might differ.

That article is a good find Jen. Thanks.

My question is how can we be a member of the EEA /EU/EFTA if the criteria is ALL members must abide by the 4 Freedoms/ the Four Pillars as both Labour and Conservative parties have stated the Free Movement of People will end.

Don't you answer your own question there. If we decide to be a member of anything - even something new they come up with - that include requirement of commitment to the four freedoms then we would be committed to that, whatever the parties have said. It was, of course, always possible to control the freedom of movement far more than we ever did and I am sure this government could make it appear that they had put new controls in place while actually recycling old ideas - until it unravelled that is.

campaignforanindependentbritain.org.uk/freedom-of-movement-between-eea-european-economic-area-states-and-the-eu/

It has always been said that we could join EFTA or the EEA when we leave the EU.
We don't need to join the EEA as we are members.
I haven't noticed all the Brexiteers saying we will still be in the EEA over these last 15 months, have you?
Brexit doesn't take us out of it unless May wants to take us out of it.
Why would she want to do that?

whitewave

At least I am used to you ' telling' me to not bother posting on threads as you like to 'chat amongst yourselves' as you once put it.

I'm very happy you and presumably GG have ' worked that out for ourselves ' as I have never had a reply to the following question perhaps you could give one :-

My question is how can we be a member of the EEA /EU/EFTA if the criteria is ALL members must abide by the 4 Freedoms/ the Four Pillars as both Labour and Conservative parties have stated the Free Movement of People will end.

This falls in line with the question of Switzerland and it's referendum on reducing immigration . They were told nein, non you will abide by the 4 Freedoms/Pillars and they are not an EU Member.

www.swissinfo.ch/eng/directdemocracy/explainer_swiss-immigration-quotas-where-do-we-stand/42715214

' Never before has Switzerland’s system of direct democracy presented such a dilemma. Since 2014, politicians have tried to reconcile the seemingly irreconcilable: how to limit the number of EU workers entering Switzerland without breaching the free movement of people accord with the 28-country bloc. Officials in Brussels have said the agreement cannot be renegotiated.'

Not really POGS. Most of that I am already aware of. What I was really trying to get a handle on was how it works for the countries involved. We have such a diverse membership that I often read things from an angle I have no insight into. I really appreciate those posts.

Elaine1
Yes it was sarcasm on my part for the simple reason that for the past 15 months people on here who voted to leave have been told continuously that we don't understand the eu and all it entails.
Now we have one of the most prolific posters asking how the EEA fits with the eu!
We had a poster some time back who likes to impart her knowledge of the eu, but then admitted that she doesn't understand trade! It's the basis of everything the eu was built on!
It's like a maths teacher admitting they don't understand numbers.

No you mistake it - it was sarcasm

whitewave

Irony!

pogs you are bit late -we’ve all worked that out for ourselves thank you and glory be without a snide remark between us.

GG

I am actually shocked to think you have contributed so often to Brexit threads and have asked this question as the EEA has been mentioned on numerous occasions.

Might I suggest you look at past threads starting with the
' BREXIT? Am I just plain stupid? ' thread as you were frequently posting whilst posts were flying back and forth discussing the EEA as one of the tropics so it might refresh something in your mind.

Does this also help:-

Countries in the EU and EEA

The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 28 countries. It operates an internal (or single) market which allows free movement of goods, capital, services and people between member states.
EU countries

The EU countries are:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

The European Economic Area (EEA)

The EEA includes EU countries and also Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. It allows them to be part of the EU’s single market.

Switzerland is neither an EU nor EEA member but is part of the single market - this means Swiss nationals have the same rights to live and work in the UK as other EEA nationals.
-

The key words are obviously 'Single Market' !

Access to the Single Market requires all countries in the EU/ EFTA /EEA to abide by the 4 Freedoms/Pillars:-

' The free movement of goods, services, capital and persons within the EU are the famous “four freedoms” set out in the Treaty of Rome.

The same principles are now extended under the "internal market” rules introduced by the Single European Act.
The four freedoms are strengthened in the Lisbon Treaty, also by a special Protocol 27.'

No

It does work through google though if anyone is interested.

MaizieD
I started to read it last night, was too tired, now I have tried my link and it is paywalled.

Will it work this way?
www.ft.com/content/16b50be8-161c-38d3-83b8-14b04faa9580

I did wonder and it certainly doesn't seem all bad to do so whitewave but I need to read into it. Interesting if we haven't actually applied to leave it; I certainly hadn't realised that.

You suddenly find there are whole areas you just don't know enough about

I’ve only just noticed the gg

Personally I think that we are very likely to end up within this economic community. I’m not sure that A50 revokes that particular membership, which needs to be done under a separate article as far as I am aware.

The Irish question would be very easily solved then.

Great article Maizie, thanks.

Here you are, GG2

EFTA is very different from EEA

www.politico.eu/article/eea-efta-schengen-eurozone-eu-what-is-the-eea-and-efta/