Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Norway and the governments of other EEA and EFTA states about the UK remaining a member of the EEA after March 2019.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has made clear both in public and during discussions with the EEA EFTA states that we will be leaving the European Economic Area (EEA). Continued participation in the EEA Agreement beyond the implementation period would not pass the tests that the Prime Minister set out for our future economic partnership with the EU in that it would not deliver control of our borders or our laws.
In the absence of any further action, the EEA Agreement will no longer operate in respect of the UK when we leave the EU in March 2019.
However, at the March European Council we agreed with the EU that the UK is to be treated as a Member State for the purposes of international agreements for the duration of the implementation period; this includes the EEA Agreement.
Once the implementation period ends, the EEA Agreement will no longer apply to the UK. We will seek to put in place new arrangements with these countries for the end of the implementation period.