The EU Referendum: please stop comparing the UK to Norway

Earlier this month I did a blog post on why it’s important to vote and now as exams (believe it or not) are coming to an end soon, we are also approaching June.

I know the news is filled with information about the EU Referendum, and understandably it’s hard to keep up to date with everything. However, in June, after exams, hopefully most people are going to vote.

Having correct information is so crucial. I would like to elaborate a little on one particular argument.

Here is my personal opinion on the EU Referendum in relation to Norway, my home country.

As an international student here in Southampton, coming from a country which is not a part of the EU, it strikes me where all this “EU-hate” is coming from. One of the worst arguments I hear or read is that the UK should be like Norway when it comes to the EU.

Making such an argument only makes it clear to me that people only read mainstream media and don’t make an effort to understand how the EU works and lacks basic knowledge about Norway and the EU. Yes, Norway voted no twice in the referendum about joining the EU, but did join the EEA, which gives Norway access to the EU-market.

The EU-market is to this date Norway’s most important trade partner and it is impossible to imagine the Norwegian economy without access to this market. However, we pay somewhere between 70-90% of what an actual membership would have cost. Roughly 80% of Norwegian laws that are implemented come from the EU. Laws Norway has to accept without having any voice to yield its possible dissatisfaction. This includes respecting and following the basic four freedoms of the EU.
In other words, Norway too has open borders for EU-citizens which, from what I read online, seems to be a major issue for some Britons.

However, we are also dependent on foreign labour force to make our economy go around and we enjoy the benefits given to us through the EU; like Erasmus for example, which enables Norwegian students to come to the UK for a semester.

We travel, study, live and work abroad in the EU and we have EU-citizens coming to Norway doing the same – all of this without the need for a visa.

It’s a common misconception that the EU needs the UK more than the UK needs the EU. Stop blindly believing mainstream media – the media focuses on news that sells. I too believe the EU is in need of reform, but the best way to get reform is to be on the inside, not the outside.

Whilst on the topic of Norway, I just got back from my beautiful city, Oslo – last night, so I can’t not add a picture. This one is from the Opera house.

I recently had the pleasure of listening to Sir Mike Rake talking about the UK and the EU at his recent Distinguished Lecture. One of the many very interesting things he said was that we have to stop blaming the EU for everything that is wrong today, as most of the time it is not due to the EU.

As I also mentioned in my blogpost about voting, there have been several talks on campus about the referendum and I have yet to hear anyone say that the Norway-deal is better than what the UK has now.

Before you vote, I hope you have done some proper reading and research into the consequences of  Brexit and please, don’t say that the UK should be like Norway because it is not as glamorous as it seems.

Alexandra