Continuing UK relationship with the EU

The UK's post–Brexit relationship with the remaining European Union members could take several forms. A research paper presented to the UK Parliament in July 2013 proposed a number of alternatives to membership which would continue to allow access to the EU internal market. These include remaining in the European Economic Area (EEA) as a European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member (alongside Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway), or seeking to negotiate bilateral terms more along the Swiss model with a series of interdependent sectoral agreements. The exit from the EU without EEA membership or a trade agreement is known as the WTO Option. There is a belief that there may be an interim deal between the time the UK leaves the EU and when the final relationship comes in force.

The UK could seek to continue to be a member of the European Economic Area as a member of EFTA. In January 2017, Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, announced a 12-point plan of negotiating objectives and said that the UK government would not seek continued membership in the single market. EEA membership would mean being under existing EU internal market legislation that is part of the EEA Agreement. Some EU law originates from various international bodies on which non-EU EEA countries have a seat. EFTA members free to set their own policies in areas such as agriculture, fisheries, Customs Union, trade, the Common Foreign and Security Policy, direct and indirect taxation and criminal matters. EEA countries are required to contribute to the EU Budget in exchange for access to the internal market. The UK would be subject to the EFTA Court rather than the European Court of Justice.

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