Eurosceptics who gaze at alternative models for the UK, like Norway, should be very careful what they wish for. 

By Will Cousins

Assuming the worst of your own circumstances, and imagining everybody else to have it better, is probably part of human nature. But it is not an effective attitude to take politically. Those who want Britain to leave the European Union have been casting around for an alternative- any alternative- to our current situation. But the truth is that the grass is no more lush and plentiful on the other side of the fence.

That is according to Vidar Helgesen, the Norwegian Minister for Europe. Mr Helgesen, a conservative politician, gave a speech organised by British Influence in which he said that Norway had to adopt most EU legislation, but was locked out of the decision making bodies. He said: “I have a hard time seeing the UK, with your global ambition, dedication and contributions, being comfortable with such an arrangement.”

Norway is not, of course, a failure- it is richer than any EU state with the exception of Luxembourg. On the face of it, copying the Norwegian model might seem attractive. But special factors are at play. Norway’s population of just five million have the good fortune to own Europe’s largest oil reserves. This advantage can hardly be copied. The truth is that their success has come despite their position outside the EU.

The European Single Market is a thing of immense value. It provides for totally free trade among a market of 500 million consumers, with a GDP of £10 trillion. Movement of goods, services, capital and people are all free. Regulations are standardised across the EU, so that businesses need only abide by one set of rules, whether they are exporting to Dublin or Dubrovnik. The worst position any country could be in would be just outside the EU, dependent on exporting to it, but suffering the great disadvantage of not being in the Single Market.

Norway, as a member of the European Economic Area (along with tiny Iceland, and tinier Liechtenstein), has access to the Single Market. But only EU states get to decide on the rules which govern that market. Norway is stuck in a position of regulation without representation, waiting for EU member states to decide something, and then having no choice but to implement it. It is true that the European Commission must “consult” Oslo. But no other EU institution need do so, meaning that Norwegian diplomats have trouble even following what goes on in Brussels, let alone influencing it. According to the Norwegian government itself, the country must adopt 75% of EU legislation.

But doesn’t Norway avoid having to pay billions to the EU, and retain some freedom of action? Up to a point. Norway pays subsidies to poorer regions of the EU, which add up to £78 a head every year. It has to pay for any European programmes in which it wants to take part, without having any power over how they are run. And while Oslo is free to negotiate its own free trade deals, the absence of the EU’s negotiating heft makes the terms distinctly unfavourable.

Any country that wants access to the Single Market must accept the principle of the free movement of people – indeed, Norway has more immigrants as a proportion of the population than Britain. Those eurosceptics who are motivated by concerns about migration should beware of a solution that means accepting the free movement of people, but having no control whatsoever over EU migration policy.

Eurosceptics, by and large, realise that glorious isolationism is not a practical policy. Believing the EU to be bad, they cast around instead for other multilateral alternatives, or for a new deal with the EU that somehow allows us to retain all of the benefits and none of the drawbacks. It should not surprise anybody to learn that this option is non-existent. Instead of gazing over the garden fence, Britain must recognise the benefits of EU membership, and fight to make it better still.