Tweet
Hi Al,
I thought I had better do a wee bit of research about EFTA.
Here is a quote from the official EFTA site:-
Norway and Switzerland were among the founding Member States of EFTA in 1960. Iceland joined EFTA in 1970, followed by Liechtenstein in 1991. Norway, Iceland (from 1994) and Liechtenstein (from 1995) are also parties to the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement with the European Union, while Switzerland has signed a set of bilateral agreements with the EU*.
Although the four EFTA countries are small, they are world leaders in several sectors vital to the global economy. The two EFTA Alpine countries – Liechtenstein and Switzerland – are internationally renowned financial centres and hosts to major companies and multinationals. The two EFTA Nordic countries – Iceland and Norway – stand out in fish production, the metal industry and maritime transport.
So now I know what and who EFTA are. They are not the EU but are parties to the EEA (whatever that means).
Just like reading a dictionary I now have to go and do more research.
Anyway why do the SDA think that we could join the EFTA group of 4?
I've now read up on the "Very complicated" relationships among all the parties. As far as I can see it still means "more government and rules" and why would we join into that if we have just gained independence.
More and more am I convinced that we should NOT separate.
Sandy
I thought I had better do a wee bit of research about EFTA.
Here is a quote from the official EFTA site:-
Norway and Switzerland were among the founding Member States of EFTA in 1960. Iceland joined EFTA in 1970, followed by Liechtenstein in 1991. Norway, Iceland (from 1994) and Liechtenstein (from 1995) are also parties to the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement with the European Union, while Switzerland has signed a set of bilateral agreements with the EU*.
Although the four EFTA countries are small, they are world leaders in several sectors vital to the global economy. The two EFTA Alpine countries – Liechtenstein and Switzerland – are internationally renowned financial centres and hosts to major companies and multinationals. The two EFTA Nordic countries – Iceland and Norway – stand out in fish production, the metal industry and maritime transport.
So now I know what and who EFTA are. They are not the EU but are parties to the EEA (whatever that means).
Just like reading a dictionary I now have to go and do more research.
Anyway why do the SDA think that we could join the EFTA group of 4?
I've now read up on the "Very complicated" relationships among all the parties. As far as I can see it still means "more government and rules" and why would we join into that if we have just gained independence.
More and more am I convinced that we should NOT separate.
Sandy
Comment