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Optimist · July 17th 16, 04:57 PM posted to uk.transport.london

On Sun, 17 Jul 2016 11:31:52 -0500, wrote:

In article ,
(Optimist) wrote:

*Subject:* Will Brexit lead to the abandonment of Crossrail2
On Fri, 15 Jul 2016 07:50:43 -0500,
wrote:

In article e.net,
(Mark Goodge) wrote:

On Thu, 14 Jul 2016 20:20:09 -0000 (UTC), bob put
finger to keyboard and typed:

Mark Goodge wrote:

In real life, I think it's likely we will end up as members of EFTA.
The benefits are useful, and the downsides of belonging are minimal
(membership carries far fewer obligations than EU membership).
Whether we then go for EEA membership will depend, I think, on
whether or not we can negotiate a suitable set of Swiss-style
bilateral treaties with the EU or whether the only way to get what
we want is to join the EEA.

The difficulty is both EEA and EFTA involve paying money to the EU and
accepting free movement of people. An awful lot of people who voted
"leave" we're under the impression these were the things they were
voting to get rid of, and will be pretty miffed if they are retained.

EEA membership requires acceptance of the "four freedoms", including
freedom of movement, across the whole of EFTA and the EU. EFTA
membership alone doesn't. Switzerland has a bilateral treaty with the
EU which includes freedom of movement, but it would be possible not to
have it.

Not to have what? As the Swiss are currently finding out not having
freedom of movement is not an option.

So Switzerland has found that the EU is a bully. No surprise there.
But UK is significantly larger
than the Alpine state and not landlocked.

It's not bullying to say that if you want the benefits of the single market
you can't choose to exclude part of it because of your xenophobia. Freedom
of movement is a bit inevitable for Switzerland with its land frontiers and
not being a police state.

Countries outside the "single market" sell into it all the time. Look at the goods in the shops and
read the labels to see where they come from. Businesses sell services across the world as well. In
the 1970s I was working for a company selling data in several countries, some of them now in the EU,
some not. Believe it or not we could travel across frontiers and sell things before the EU existed.

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