WHY THE SWISS-EU MODEL WOULD NOT WORK FOR THE UK

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WHY THE SWISS-EU MODEL WOULD NOT WORK FOR THE UK

By Catherine MacBride for Global Britain

 

Be careful what you wish for. 

With rumours circling of a Swiss-style EFTA deal between the UK and the EU, Economist Catherine MacBride pours scorn on the idea in a withering analysis for Global Britain.

 

Citing Switzerland itself as a warning, she cites five reasons why the UK should not even entertain the idea:

 

  1. EFTA style-agreement would not safeguard UK interests

The EU doesn’t like Switzerland’s multiple bi-lateral deals with other countries and hoped to force them to give up these agreements in 2019 by denying Switzerland and its stock exchange financial equivalence with the EU.

Like Switzerland, the UK economy is weighted towards financial services.

“If the UK similarly put its economy into the jaws of the EU, we should expect similar levels of bullying from the EU  – just because it can.”

 

  1. Switzerland is land-locked. The UK is not

Surrounded by other EU member states, and with thousands of cars, trucks and lorries often passing through Switzerland on their way to another EU state, Swiss alignment clearly makes sense.

The UK is an island and has only one border with the EU – and that is Northern Ireland. The volume of trade across the Irish border is tiny by comparison.

 

  1. Switzerland has free movement

The Swiss agreed to free movement with the EU, although many are not happy about that. The UK campaigned to leave the EU to take back control of its borders.

The damaging effects have played themselves out and contributed to the UK’s present problems.  It undercut UK wages and left many EU countries with skills and labour shortages.

“So, the UK had Czech schoolteachers working as nannies and Romanian dentists working on building sites. It was a disaster for everyone: UK workers with stagnant wages, EU workers not fulfilling their education, and EU countries who lost their educated young people after paying for their education.”

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  1. Switzerland does not get free access to the EU’s markets

“Switzerland must contribute towards any EU programmes and agencies that it participates in… This year Switzerland paid 1.1billion Swiss Francs (£0.97bn) to help reduce economic and social inequalities between old and new EU countries. Last year they paid 1.3 billion Swiss Francs (£1.15bn).”

 

  1. The EU is not even offering the UK an EFTA-style agreement with the UK

“It would prefer to wait for our hapless politicians to blow up the UK economy so that the UK crawls back to the EU and signs up to full gimp status complete with Euro, Schengen, ECJ control and the free movement of people.”

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The full article can be read here.