
Norway–European Union relations - em3rgent0rdr
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway%E2%80%93European_Union_relations
======
nraynaud
Let's just say that Norway did not leave the EU slamming the door after
decades of being the difficult child. I'm not sure this kind of agreement will
be extended to the UK.

~~~
gkya
My impression is that the UK will have to face some border problems before
negotiating anything with the EU. Scotland may want to secede, Northern
Ireland may want to join R. o. Ireland, Gibraltar may want to move into Spain.
And then the situation for many overseas territories of the UK will change, as
they did gode some privileges from the EU.

~~~
throwaway987611
I'm afraid to say, that your impressions are incorrect.

Northern Ireland will not be joining Southern Ireland. They still see
themselves as British first. Go over there, like I have and you'll see British
Flags everywhere.

Also, have you see the situation in Spain lately? Gibraltar is staying put.

I do love hearing these fantasists hoping that the UK crumbles because it left
the UK.

You do realise there are whispers within the STRONGER countries in the EU who
are now thinking of having their own referendums?

The EU better be be careful as otherwise it's just France, Germany and a whole
lot of smaller poorer southern countries and Germany goes bankrupt trying to
bail them out!

Lets see what happens when Greece finally explodes!

~~~
airesQ
If the UK leaves, Scotland is probably out.

The economy prospects are not looking good. Capital is flowing out of the UK,
and plans for new investment's are being cancelled all over the place.

Why invest in country that might be behind a trade barrier at any point?

A country that is being consumed by a strong populist movement that is
convinced that the EU is worse than the USSR?

Sorry, we have had 70 years of peace and prosperity, and I don't believe that
that would be possible if the EU was the monster that the Brexit camp
portrays.

The dislocations in the city have begun.[1]

Keep mind that there are 49%+ Britons aghast at what is happening. They didn't
vote for this, and don't deserve this.

[1] - FT's pay-wall, just search for "Banks begin moving some operations out
of Britain"

~~~
hackerboos
No still leads the polls in post-Brexit Scotland [1]. The economic arguments
are not there since the collapse in the oil price.

[1] - [http://whatscotlandthinks.org/questions/if-a-majority-of-
peo...](http://whatscotlandthinks.org/questions/if-a-majority-of-people-in-
the-uk-voted-for-the-uk-to-leave-the-eu-how-would-yo#line)

~~~
protomyth
and oil dropped in price on the Brexit vote giving some of my fellow North
Dakotans a bit of a poor view on the vote as oil was finally back to the
"good" range.

[edit: too soon]

------
legulere
I found this article to be quite good for showing what the EU-Norway
relationship entails: [http://openeurope.org.uk/today/blog/what-would-a-
norway-styl...](http://openeurope.org.uk/today/blog/what-would-a-norway-style-
relationship-with-the-eu-entail/)

~~~
digi_owl
One thing to keep in mind is that Norway do have the option to not implement
various EU Directives. But the politicians are skittish about doing so,
fearing EU sanctions.

The most hotly debated directive in recent history was the postal directive.

Norway could also have remained outside Shengen, except that there was an
existing agreement with Denmark and Sweden (dunno about finland) allowing
citizens of either to visit without passports. This agreement would have been
ended had Norway not joined Shengen.

~~~
chvid
AFAIK travel without passport in Scandinavia ended with the current refugee
crisis.

~~~
ptaipale
Generally, no, it did not. Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have had travel
without passport since 1952, and Iceland joined 1955, Faroe Islands in 1966.
Svalbard (that belongs to Norway) is still excluded.

(In Schengen, you still need to have a passport or identity card, even if
there are usually no checks; within the Nordic passport union area, that is
not necessary for citizens.)

There are some checks in the ferries/trains between Denmark and Sweden. But I
can step in my car and drive from here to Haparanda to Narvik and no one will
stop me to ask for a passport.

~~~
jdavis703
Exactly this. Or take a plane. The checks aren't even run by official
government agents, it's the railroad that does the checks for fear of fines.

~~~
vilhelm_s
There is also an internal check by the Swedish police at Hyllie station on the
Swedish side, which is done by government officials.[1] (They said in the long
term, they hope to replace this system to instead have Swedish border police
on the Danish side, in order to have one check instead of two [2]). But yeah,
you can still avoid the ID controls by taking a car across the border instead
of the train.

[1] [http://www.oresundsinstituttet.org/fakta-id-kontrollerna-
ove...](http://www.oresundsinstituttet.org/fakta-id-kontrollerna-over-oresund-
forlanger-restiden-med-tag-till-sverige-med-mellan-10-och-50-minuter/) [2]
[http://www.sydsvenskan.se/2016-01-12/sa-ska-id-
kontrollerna-...](http://www.sydsvenskan.se/2016-01-12/sa-ska-id-kontrollerna-
forandras)

------
TillE
Norway still allows free movement of EU citizens to their country, which was
one of the primary reasons for the Leave vote.

There are a few details which differ slightly (you have to leave Norway after
several months without finding a job, whereas the UK will merely pull your
benefits), but I don't think that's nearly enough to satisfy the demands of
those who wish to drastically cut immigration.

~~~
airesQ
Yes, for the UK case it would be an exit in name only.

But some in the leave side are for this (e.g. Hannan), with free movement and
fees. They are openly conceding that having a tight control over EU migration
is not feasible, and that it was an empty campaign promise (and keep in mind
that UK does not have all that many migrants, Switzerland, Ireland, Austria,
and others have more).

Anyway, maybe we will get deadlock. Britain will refuse to invoke article 50
without a deal. And the EU will refuse to negotiate before Britain invokes
article 50.

~~~
vinceguidry
> Britain will refuse to invoke article 50 without a deal. And the EU will
> refuse to negotiate before Britain invokes article 50.

Article 50 invocation marks the start of _formal_ negotiations. They can
negotiate behind the scenes for as long as they can before political pressure
compels them to pull the trigger.

~~~
airesQ
But the EU can simply refuse to negotiate.

I think the EU does want to give the voters what they asked for. And that is
Brexit. Out is out. Not EEA.

~~~
hackerboos
The language of the article suggests otherwise:

> 2\. A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify the European
> Council of its intention. In the light of the guidelines provided by the
> European Council, the Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with
> that State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account
> of the framework for its future relationship with the Union. That agreement
> shall be negotiated in accordance with Article 218(3) of the Treaty on the
> Functioning of the European Union. It shall be concluded on behalf of the
> Union by the Council, acting by a qualified majority, after obtaining the
> consent of the European Parliament.

------
surfmike
Norwegians pay for access to the common market (I think even more per capita
than other EU countries), still participate in Schengen, and have no say in
the EU.

Hardly seems like what the Brexiters wanted. But an arrangement like that
might allow UK to be more free to negotiate trade deals with Asia and other
parts of the world and have a bit more flexibility in their immigration policy
than they had under the EU.

------
secfirstmd
At least GCHQ will be outside the EU. Not that it matters and NATO
collabortion won't continue.

~~~
peteretep
That's ok, Germany are desperate to join FIVEEYES.

------
gabimaeztu
I do not understand how British elderly doesn't see the damage they are doing
to their younger population... It seems pretty obvious that even if you
haven't been able to adapt to globalisation you should at least not interfere
in the way of the newcomers

~~~
dingaling
Globalization is orthogonal to what the EU has become, and whatever it intends
to become.

