Norway's foreign minister warns UK that not being in the EU actually kinda sucks
32 replies, posted
[t]http://imgkk.com/i/j59b.jpg[/t]
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20830201[/url]
[quote=BBC News][B]Norway's foreign minister has urged the UK to assess the advantages of staying in the European Union, rather than consider leaving.[/B]
Norway is not in the EU but has access to the single market. UK Eurosceptics use it as a model for how the UK could relate to the EU from outside.
But Foreign Minister Espen Eide said Oslo had "limited scope for influence".
"We are not at the table when decisions are made," he told Radio 4's The World This Weekend.
Mr Eide is pro-EU, though Norwegian voters have twice rejected the chance to join the EU in referendums in 1972 and 1994.
Sir Nigel Sheinwald, a former UK ambassador to the US and to the European Union, said: "The issue is - do you want to be part of the single market? All the economic indicators are that the UK needs to be.
"But [the Norwegians] have no role in negotiations... they have no impact, no influence and there's no accountability. So this is regulation without representation.
"It's the first thing the UK needs to decide, whether it wants to be associated with the single market, from the inside or the outside.
"If on the outside, both the Swiss and the Norwegian models give you no actual impact on the substance of what's agreed."
Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan said he was "not aware of any British Eurosceptics who are arguing that we should precisely replicate the Norwegian model".
He added: "What we're after is something a bit more like what the Swiss have, but actually I think we could get better terms than either Norway or Switzerland."
Prime Minister David Cameron has consistently said he supports Britain's continued membership.
He has hinted, however, at a possible referendum to allow the British people the opportunity to give their "fresh consent" on the issue.
Mr Cameron is expected to give a much delayed speech on Europe early in the new year.
The World This Weekend was broadcast on Radio 4 at 13:00 GMT on Sunday.[/quote]
Solely from what I've read here on Facepunch, I don't think the British people are going to care about this in regards to wanting to leave.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;38944838]Solely from what I've read here on Facepunch, I don't think the British people are going to care about this in regards to wanting to leave.[/QUOTE]
Some of us actually do, I'd hate to see the country leaving the union.
Yeah, look at how awesome being under the euro is, huh.
Doesn't really suck for us though, considering we've got our asses firmly planted on tons of natural resources.
[editline]23rd December 2012[/editline]
You hear that EU? You're never getting our fish and oil!
As long as we stay out of the Euro, I don't see the point in leaving the EU
[QUOTE=Lizzrd;38944917]Doesn't really suck for us though, considering we've got our asses firmly planted on tons of natural resources.
[editline]23rd December 2012[/editline]
You hear that EU? You're never getting our fish and oil![/QUOTE]
You mean the natural gas supply that's running out, or the coal and tin that's too expensive to mine on a large scale, or the negligible fish supplies?
[QUOTE=Aphtonites;38944879]Some of us actually do, I'd hate to see the country leaving the union.[/QUOTE]
Well, I meant by what I've read in the articles posted here. A great deal of FP Brits do want to be in the EU, while most news articles seem to state otherwise.
But I honestly know very little about the situation and I don't even read every single SH article about England and the EU.
[QUOTE=Lizzrd;38944917]Doesn't really suck for us though, considering we've got our asses firmly planted on tons of natural resources.
[editline]23rd December 2012[/editline]
You hear that EU? You're never getting our fish and oil![/QUOTE]
What resources, we pretty much import everything as we've got nothing left.
[QUOTE=MrEndangered;38944960]You mean the natural gas supply that's running out, or the coal and tin that's too expensive to mine on a large scale, or the negligible fish supplies?[/QUOTE]
Looks like it's time to revamp supplies from those colonies of yours.
Damn, they got independence :v:
[QUOTE=Gishank;38944881]Yeah, look at how awesome being under the euro is, huh.[/QUOTE]
The EU and the Eurozone are two separate entities, currently the UK is in the EU and not the Eurozone and quite frankly we should stay this way.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;38945012]Looks like it's time to revamp supplies from those colonies of yours.
Damn, they got independence :v:[/QUOTE]
You mean we should invade countries and take their natural resources for the good of.. some.. sort of 'Empire'?
Wonder why we didn't think of that before!
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;38944999]Well, I meant by what I've read in the articles posted here. A great deal of FP Brits do want to be in the EU, while most news articles seem to state otherwise.
But I honestly know very little about the situation and I don't even read every single SH article about England and the EU.[/QUOTE]
Anyone who wants to leave the EU typically pulls out shit like immigration laws and stuff, it's usually thinly veiled xenophobia, not always but in my experience that's usually it.
[QUOTE=markg06;38945034]The EU and the Eurozone are two separate entities, currently the UK is in the EU and not the Eurozone and quite frankly we should stay this way.[/QUOTE]
The Eurozone is slightly overrated and kinda flawed.
But it's in the infant stage, compared to the EU itself.
The countries could just "link" their currencies together as much as possible, and agree to keep the money exchange fee really low.
And the EU could easily put embargo's on Norways products, thus negating the advantage of their non-EU status
[QUOTE=Gishank;38944881]Yeah, look at how awesome being under the euro is, huh.[/QUOTE]
But this is about the EU and not the euro.
[editline]23rd December 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;38944999]Well, I meant by what I've read in the articles posted here. A great deal of FP Brits do want to be in the EU, while most news articles seem to state otherwise.
But I honestly know very little about the situation and I don't even read every single SH article about England and the EU.[/QUOTE]
IMO its a case of a vocal minority, if we were out of the EU and considering joining I get the feeling it would be the other way around.
[QUOTE=Van-man;38945141]The Eurozone is slightly overrated and kinda flawed.
But it's in the infant stage, compared to the EU itself.
The countries could just "link" their currencies together as much as possible, and agree to keep the money exchange fee really low.
And the EU could easily put embargo's on Norways products, thus negating the advantage of their non-EU status[/QUOTE]
Embargoing Norway like that would be akin to a declaration of war. "Either join us, or suffer"
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;38945253]Embargoing Norway like that would be akin to a declaration of war. "Either join us, or suffer"[/QUOTE]
As cool as it would be, I don't want the EU to cause years of Viking raids on the coastlines of Mainland Europe and the British Isles.
In fact, wait: With Modern Sailing technology they could probably raid coastlines all around the world.
How the fuck did I miss that Espen Eide took over for Jonas Gahr Støre as foreign minister.
That's what I get for camping under a rock since August.
I hope that Norway never joins EU. I doubt we will anyways. Why the fuck did they get the Nobel price? They need to get a new "head" for the Nobel committee. Jageland is just horny for political contacts.
[QUOTE=MrEndangered;38944960]You mean the natural gas supply that's running out, or the coal and tin that's too expensive to mine on a large scale, or the negligible fish supplies?[/QUOTE]
He means Norway.
[QUOTE=eddy-tt-;38945001]What resources, we pretty much import everything as we've got nothing left.[/QUOTE]
He means Norway.
[QUOTE=mac338;38945754]How the fuck did I miss that Espen Eide took over for Jonas Gahr Støre as foreign minister.
That's what I get for camping under a rock since August.[/QUOTE]
Yeah he is now our "Health Minister" because of his extensive expertise in medical practice.
oh wait.
[QUOTE=Xavith;38945976]Yeah he is now our "Health Minister" because of his extensive expertise in medical practice.
oh wait.[/QUOTE]
Good to see things are so sensible all across Europe, here (the UK) our current (and recently appointed) health minister was formally a culture secretary who believes that homoeopathy is the answer.
[QUOTE=Nick Lomax;38945781]I hope that Norway never joins EU. I doubt we will anyways. Why the fuck did they get the Nobel price? They need to get a new "head" for the Nobel committee. Jageland is just horny for political contacts.[/QUOTE]
This is a very tiring thing to say, but I'll say it again because nobody seems to listen.
Countries with strong economic bonds will become so dependent on each other that the disadvantages of war will far outweigh the few advantages.
The EU managed to intertwine all of Europe so much that war is pretty much unthinkable now. It's put a stop on the perpetual generation-killer European nationalism had become and that the League of Nations had failed to curb.
Now don't get me wrong. NATO and the other things that were started after world war II also helped out a lot, but the EU received the peace nobel prize because it creates peace through peaceful, economical means. Anything the EU touches becomes economically golden. The euro itself is young and still needs time to be fleshed out, but the idea isn't fundamentally flawed.
[QUOTE=mac338;38945815]He means Norway.
He means Norway.[/QUOTE]
Stop expecting me to read things.
[QUOTE=Xavith;38945976]Yeah he is now our "Health Minister" because of his extensive expertise in medical practice.
oh wait.[/QUOTE]
He's done a pretty good job so far as far as I can tell. Then again he's generally a pretty competent guy.
Though I wish the UK was at its former glory still, I'd rather see a very sovereign UK take a smaller part in the world than sacrifice it's self governance for a piece of the EU pie. What they should do is take whatever treaty that the Swiss have and tweak it to suit their needs. Switzerland can set its own trade policy while trading like a member state, so they have the best of both worlds in that regard.
The only way for me to stay European is to move elsewhere.
if norway finds it harder to be separate from the eu, then why don't they join?
or did the people specifically say that they didn't want to be part of the eu?
[QUOTE=yawmwen;38947728]if norway finds it harder to be separate from the eu, then why don't they join?
or did the people specifically say that they didn't want to be part of the eu?[/QUOTE]The referendum returned a no vote twice.
[QUOTE=yawmwen;38947728]if norway finds it harder to be separate from the eu, then why don't they join?
or did the people specifically say that they didn't want to be part of the eu?[/QUOTE]
they got strong independent natural resources, they don't need no Union
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