The author argues that instead of Britain attempting to rejoin the EU in its prior position, which they deem as unlikely and unnecessary, that Britain may instead negotiate a bilateral patchwork of treaties similar to Switzerland. In doing so Britain would re-enter the single market, customs union, free trade areas, and various other EU programs like science, education, defence, and finance.
The author argues that it would be less politically toxic than rejoining without a referendum, and put Britain in a better position to rejoin as a full member in the future.
Though I am personally in favour of a multi-speed Europe and British autonomy, I do not believe the EU would be willing to negotiate such a system with Britain at present. The author also seems to downplay the political toxicity of freedom of movement; the sudden loss of immigration control would very likely supercharge Reform and the Tories even further.
Posted by Desperate_Wear_1866
3 Comments
There is no way that signing up for membership of EU institutions like the customs union without having any say in the governance of those institutions would be accepted by the British public. Farage has wet dreams about that kind of messaging opportunity.
The EU has said countless times that it’s not going to do a Swiss-style deal again because it’s an absolute mess.
A much better solution is a clean agreement that mirrors that of EFTA and says “we accept the four freedoms and requisite requirements to become a member of the European single market”. The single market carriers minimal political baggage and can be framed as an economic requirement, while also staying out of the customs union as a temporary cop-out to give some lines about “regulatory independence”.
Why would the EU allow that?