Erna Solberg told the Financial Times in an interview that the Nordic country was prepared to see the UK join the EEA, conceding that the option was “on the shelf” and readily available to London.
“I think we will cope very well if the Brits come in. It will give bargaining power on our side too. And it would ease Norway’s access to the UK,” she said.
The UK is Norway’s biggest trading partner thanks to gas sales to Britain.
Senior Norwegian diplomats and business people have repeatedly warned that UK membership of the EEA would distort the small group — which includes Iceland and Liechtenstein — away from Norway’s priorities of protecting its agriculture and fishing.
“We would go from being a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in still a pretty small pond,” said the chairman of one large company close to the Norwegian government.
The so-called Norwegian model is playing an increasingly significant role in the debate over Britain’s future relationship with the EU. The House of Lords voted last week in favour of British membership of the EEA once it leaves the EU, although Theresa May’s government opposes such an outcome and the House of Commons is likely to overturn the vote.
Mrs May’s Brexit cabinet committee will meet on Tuesday as it continues to wrangle over customs options — including her preferred “customs partnership” — with the prime minister keen to finalise an agreed position before next month’s EU summit.
Ms Solberg and other Norwegian politicians have previously warned that it would be difficult for London to join the EEA because it involves both agreeing to free movement of people and nearly all rules from Brussels as well as continuing to pay into the EU budget.
One of the main reasons Mrs May opposes continued single market membership is because long-term free movement of EU nationals is seen as politically unacceptable.
“You have to accept a couple of things that were difficult in the discussion before Brexit,” Ms Solberg said, adding there would be “costs and benefits” to UK membership of the EEA. [...]
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