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Influential Commons Brexit committee in split vote, calls for UK to consider EEA and EFTA membership
The influential Commons Brexit committee has called on the UK Government to consider negotiating continued membership of the European Economic Area (EEA) or joining the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) after Brexit. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesIf membership of either of these organisations interferes with our ability to trade worldwide we shouldnt join.
Apr 08th, 2018 - 10:04 am - Link - Report abuse 0The new housing minister Dominic Raab agrees with me. High net immigration of several million people over the last few years has raised house prices because demand has exceeded supply. Experts at his Ministry say that prices have been forced up 20% by immigration alone.
No-one has been able to disprove it.
AFAIK it wouldn't, because they don't include the customs union so we would still be able to make free trade deals with 3rd countries. (And they don't involve sharing fisheries either.) However, membership in the EEA means staying in the single market which means continued immigration.
Apr 08th, 2018 - 01:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Apparently the UK was a founding member of EFTA, and it was supposed to be an alternative to the EEC, however, the EEC was much more successful so the UK and most of the other countries joined that instead. Do you remember this? I think they should at least consider them as options.
According to their write-ups, both the EEA and EFTA have the same “four freedoms” as the EU. Not because they want to, but because the EU insists. EFTA does not have the ECJ but the EFTA Court invariably follows what the ECJ says. The EEA members often refer to themselves as being in a “fax democracy” as they have to wait for the European Commission to fax them the legislation that they have to pass.
Apr 09th, 2018 - 08:42 am - Link - Report abuse 0Switzerland is a member of EFTA and is having to get used to how the European Commission “leans” on it to do what the Commission wants.
EFTA was created first. The EEC was seen as bigger. That's about all. EFTA has never tried to create a european empire where it can tell all its members what they “have” to do.
On balance, there is no gain to the UK in joining either. Simple matter of comparing sizes of potential markets. EFTA has four countries, the EU has 27, the EEA has 31 and the Rest of the World has 178. For a trading nation, like the UK, the answer is simple. The UK should join the Rest of the World. Where we will be able to do what we did best for a thousand years. Stand on our own two feet.
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