25 January 2018

Bloomberg: UK may get ‘Norway plus’ Brexit, Irish Prime Minister says

The UK may end up in a ‘Norway plus’ style relationship with the European Union after Brexit, according to Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who pointed to “different perspectives” within the bloc on a future deal with Britain.

Ireland wants to retain as close as a relationship as possible with the U.K., Varadkar said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Davos on Thursday, yet not all member states are as concerned about future ties.

“We’re very enthusiastic about having a free trade agreement and customs union. I know a lot of countries in central and eastern Europe would have a similar view,” he said. “Other countries that are quite far away from the United Kingdom might not be as concerned.”

Any EU-U.K. trade deal will be a new agreement that could be close to the current arrangements, Varadkar said, warning Britain can’t “cherry pick” on its obligations. Ireland is considered the EU economy most vulnerable to Brexit, with about 15 percent of the nation’s exports going to Britain. In December, Varadkar won a guarantee that no hard border will be reimposed after Brexit on the island of Ireland as the price for allowing talks to move ahead,

“It will be a specific agreement for the U.K. but of course in Ireland we want that to be as close as possible so we would have it ‘Norway plus’,” Varadkar said. “But we need to get into the detail of what that means.” [...]

Financial Services

“The crucial issue around financial services does put your finger on it in some ways because the City of London would like access to financial services and financial markets but what is the U.K. Going to give in return,” Varadkar said. “What’s it going to open up?” [...]

Full article on Bloomberg

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