A lesson from Norway (Part two)

Today marked the next step along the Coalition Causeway for the new Government, with the publication of their full plan for the next five years.  It lays bare the amount of compromises that have been made by David Cameron in order to secure the support of Nick Clegg and his party.  One of the u-turns that most disappoints me is David Cameron's decision to eschew his policy of repatriating a number of powers that have been handed over to the EU over the years.

I, like a large number of my fellow Conservatives, would label myself as Eurosceptic.  Whilst it cannot be argued that membership of the European Union does nothing for us, I am of the belief that we get out of it far less than we put in.  This is by no means a new set of circumstances; one of Margaret Thatcher's most famous actions was to go to Brussels in 1984 to say "I want my money back", successfully negotiating a rebate of more than £1bn a year from the EU.  (A rebate that was recently signed away in 2008, meaning that we now receive less money from the EU than any of the other 27 member-states).

To quote David Cameron, I want a situation whereby the UK is a part of Europe, in Europe but not ruled by Europe.

One of the biggest problems with the modern EU is the flawed Common Agricultural Policy.  This policy decides that having farmland in your country is a disadvantage and that such countries should be compensated.  This leads to the ludicrous situation whereby France receives almost twice the amount of money that the UK receives.  At the end of the day, all of this money has to come from somewhere.

The open borders policy also causes its own problems.  It is without doubt that the UK suffers from uncontrollable levels of immigration; the fact that this problem needs addressing was made clear by the policies on the matter that came from many parties.  However, the problem lies in the fact that the majority of this immigration is made up of EU Citizens; people we cannot turn away owing to our EU membership.

Of course, there are clear advantages; trade for example, and the reciprocal nature of the open borders policy.  The question is, then, is there a situation whereby we could pick and choose which elements of the EU we wish to enter in to.  The answer is yes.

Here is where Norway comes in again:

"Yes, we love this country!"

Norway is a member of a much smaller group, the European Free Trade Association.  This operates parallel to the EU and is linked to it.  As a result, Norway enjoys all of the trade-related benefits of EU membership but without the extortionate costs.  Norway's only duty to the EU is to implement any regulations which relate to the running of the trade side of the EU.

This model is almost the exact same model that the UK signed up to in 1973.  Over the years, power has slowly drifted to the centre of the EU and continues to do so to this very day.  I firmly believe that if this is a system that has worked for us in the past and continues to work for a number of other European countries, then it is the system for us.

Surely it can't be coincidence that Norway looks so stunning and isn't an EU member... just look at Belgium!