‘Keep UK in EEA,’ report recommends

The EU should aim to keep the UK inside the European Economic Area when the country leaves the bloc, a report for the European Parliament has said.

The report, which was written by the think tank Bruegel for the Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and published today, said that EEA membership “is the option that best preserves the benefits to the EU of the UK’s EU membership”. The UK is due to leave the bloc in March 2019.

Membership of the EEA would make the UK’s future relationship to the EU similar to that of Norway. It would provide full membership of the EU’s single market, but would not necessarily entail membership of the EU customs union, leaving the UK free to pursue its own international trade agreements.