The group, which includes Norbert Röttgen, the chairman of the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee, and Jean Pisani-Ferry, who heads a think-tank reporting to the French prime minister, advocates a grand bargain in which Britain would join EU countries in a new, looser, organisation known as the Continental Partnership.
Though the ad hoc group’s membership is high-powered and well-respected, they are speaking only in a personal capacity. But they argue that the far-reaching plan constitutes the only realistic path to addressing Britain’s rejection of the EU without sacrificing Europe’s integrated market or weight in the world.
The blueprint would leave the UK free to impose quotas on EU workers, so addressing one of the major concerns behind the Brexit vote, while forcing Britain to make major concessions in other areas.
As well as continuing to make a contribution to the budget, Britain would also have to accept some case law from the European Court of Justice, an institution loathed by Brexiters.
Crucially, the Continental Partnership would also give the UK the right to participate in discussions on rules affecting its shared market with the EU, and potentially also in other areas such as security and defence.
While the UK would have no voting power, and final decisions would still be taken by the EU, even this consultative voice is more than what is currently offered to non-EU members Norway and Switzerland. [...]
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