Hard, soft and now smart Brexit? Leaving the EU but not the EEA, is it that simple?

Dadomo, Christian

Abstract

On 28 November 2016 the think tank British Influence announced that it will write to the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, Rt Hon David Davis MP, to find out what is the position of the UK government regarding its membership to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA Agreement). In particular, British Influence contends that ‘[l]eaving the European Union does not necessarily mean we automatically leave the EEA – and thus the single market’ (website, 28/11/2016). In contrast, the British government is alleged to have argued that

‘As the UK is party to the EEA Agreement only in its capacity as an EU Member State, once we leave the European Union we will automatically cease to be a member of the EEA’. (The Independent, 28/11/2016).

The issue is not as simple and straightforward as claimed by any side of the debate.

Citation

Dadomo, C. (2016). Hard, soft and now smart Brexit? Leaving the EU but not the EEA, is it that simple?

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 29, 2016
• Publication Date: Nov 29, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jan 9, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 10, 2017
• Journal: EU Law and Policy
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: Brexit, EEA, withdrawal, access to EU single market
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/905800
• Publisher URL: https://eulawpol57.wordpress.com/2016/11/29/hard-soft-and-now-smart-brexit-leaving-the-eu-but-not-the-eea-is-it-that-simple/