EU Referendum: the Liechtenstein solution
Throughout much of the referendum debate, it has been assumed that, in order to continue participating in the Single Market, we would have to accept freedom of movement. Any number of high-ranking Commission officials have warned us that this is "non-negotiable".
Now, at last, we are beginning to have the debate we should have had before the referendum, we have the
know-all BBC creeping out of the woodwork, together with
others, to remind us of this, as more and more
Johnny-come-latelys leap on the EEA bandwagon, including the revered
Chatham House.
However, we should have known that the Commission officials (and the European politicians who joined them), were not telling the truth about freedom of movement – or at least the whole truth in respect of the EEA.
Almost too late, we discovered something hidden in plain sight: the fact that the EU has been quite willing to negotiate with one of the three Efta/EEA states on freedom of movement. Furthermore, they have come to an amicable solution, which has allowed it to secure an amendment to the treaty giving it a permanent opt-out to freedom of movement. The state concerned now operates a quota system little different in principle to the Australian points system.
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