The problem with Norway Plus

Clear thinking is what Brexit requires but clear thinking is the one thing most lacking. An example is how the Norway model has morphed into Norway plus. As it gathered political support, in the process, it lost any semblance of coherence. At the weekend Labour MPs Alan Johnson and John Denham touted Norway Plus as a compromise offering ‘something for everyone.’

Straight Norway would see Britain exercising its legal rights as a contracting party under the original 1993 treaty establishing the European Economic Area (EEA). It offers two strategic advantages over the Prime Minister’s disastrous approach. First, it would remove the structural negotiating imbalance favouring the European Commission. If the European Union were to challenge Britain’s legal standing under the EEA Agreement and the doctrine underpinning international law of pacta sunt servanda (agreements must be kept), the prospect of a visit to the International Court of Justice in The Hague and the risk of it finding the EU’s entire legal order is subject to international law might give the commissioners in Brussels serious pause for thought.