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 During the debate
about Britain leaving the European Union the pro-EU side bring forth the same
hackneyed arguments about the so-called ‘Norway’ option, our investigation of
the issues shows that renouncing EU membership whilst continuing to be a part
of the European Economic Area (EEA) and re-joining the European Free Trade
Association (EFTA) – just like Norway – will be a suitable transition after
exiting the European Union whilst the details of the free trade agreement are
confirmed. It will also give Britain more control over our own affairs and a
bigger say on the world stage
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 Replacing the UK's
membership of the European Union with that of the European Free Trade
Association and the European Economic Area will enable regulations to be
repealed, it will allow businesses to grow and will thus lower unemployment
and create around 1 million new jobs. Membership of EFTA/EEA will also lower
the burden placed on the taxpayer as it requires a much lower financial
contribution. The UK will withdraw from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy
and Common Fisheries Policy, enabling it to take back control of its own
farming and fishing grounds again. Membership of EFTA/EEA would also mean that
the UK will regain full responsibility for Justice and Home Affairs
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 The
EC Customs Union dates to 1957. The Single European Act came into
effect in 1992 and superimposed on the Customs Union a costly,
tightly-regulated, supposedly harmonised internal market: the Single Market.
The outsourcing to Brussels of the regulation of all the City’s financial
markets, the Social Chapter, the Working Time Directive, Health and Safety and
Tax Harmonisation: all are part of the pursuit of the Single Market.
Membership of the Single Market is often said to be vital for British trade.
The facts suggest that that proposition is wrong
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 Working towards
taking Britain out of the European Union
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 Saturday, 20th September 2008 was the twentieth anniversary of
Margaret Thatcher's seminal Bruges Speech in which she outlined an
alternative vision for Britain and Europe. Margaret Thatcher’s speech is as
true today as it was twenty years ago
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 The lessons of the
last sixty years are that the UK should re-think its fraught entanglement with
the EU. Britain cannot simultaneously pursue pro-American and pro-EU policies:
the two are mutually-exclusive
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Two years ago the Bruges Group predicted the path of the EU treaty and
warned of the consequences of railroading integration on Britain. Now the
Bruges Group looks at what will happen next. And how Britain can finally
resolve the EU question and become a good neighbour to the continent, rather
than being an overcharged lodger
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Developing policies for a post-EU Britain
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Radical thinker and MP, Douglas Carswell, talks alongside the acclaimed
journalist and author, Christopher Booker, at the Bruges Group’s meeting
titled The EU: Options for Britain
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 In the face of
questions on the future Conservative alliance in Brussels, the Bruges Group
today
proclaims its vocal support for a rapid and determined Conservative withdrawal
from the European
Peoples' Party
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 As the EU project
continues it is time to think outside the box and explore the alternatives to
the EU
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 In the latest of the
Bruges Group's Alternatives to the EU series Daniel Hannan MEP sets out
the case for the European Free Trade Association. Membership of the European
Free Trade Association (EFTA) comes close to realising the dispensation that
most British voters always wanted from Europe: free trade without unnecessary
regulation or political union. Its rude prosperity is embarrassing to British
Euro-sophists, who have been telling us for 30 years that the EU is vital to
our economic survival. Yet, the EFTA states enjoy lower inflation, higher
employment, healthier budget surpluses and lower real interest rates than
those countries that are members of the European Union. It is simple, people
in EFTA are more than twice as rich as those in the EU.
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 It is two years
since Tony Blair promised a referendum on the EU Constitution. The Prime
Minister said in Parliament of the EU Constitution, “Then let the people have
the final say”. Surely this principle applies equally to the Constitution’s
contents if implemented piecemeal as to the document in its entirety? So
before the Prime Minister stands down from office, he must keep at least one
of his pledges and give us that say
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 Calls for reform of
the European Union’s outmoded practices and policies are the latest platitudes
emanating from the Government during the British Presidency of the EU, even
Commission President José Manuel Durão Barroso has been calling
for change, but is this just propaganda or is there a chance that the
supporters of integration can be persuaded that the European project was a
mistake. In the first of the Bruges Group’s four page Micro guides Robert
Oulds analyses the ability of the EU to deliver the policies that Britain
needs to compete. The character, customs and culture of the European Union and
its member-states are also examined and the conclusions are stark
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 The booklet proves that
the EU is dragging Britain down and unless the alternatives to the EU are
explored integration will continue to threaten your job, your bank balance,
your democracy and your freedom
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 An analysis of
the terms of a renegotiated British membership of the European Union with a
Foreword by Lord Tebbit
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 As opposition to EU
integration, and its political and economic costs, grows the Bruges Group
looks at and beyond the EU Constitution to discuss the options open to Britain
and how best to pursue them
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The UK as a founder
member of a Global Free Trade Association: The definitive alternative future
for Britain to EU membership
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An anlaysis of the options available to the UK at the drop of a hat
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Alternatives
to the EU
Dr Anthony Coughlan
Professor Christie Davies
Margit Gennser
Roger Helmer MEP
Dr Brian Hindley
Dr John Hulsman
HE the Rt Hon. Don McKinnon
Professor Ivar Raig
Dr Helen Szamuely
This International Conference, always a major newsworthy event in the
EU-sceptic calendar, was intended to further push forward the boundaries of
debate regarding the European Union. It did not disappoint. The Conference not
only criticised the push towards further integration but most importantly it
promoted the positive alternatives, for Britain and the nation-states of
Europe, to membership of the European Union. To this end the Bruges Group
gathered together in London many influential and internationally renowned
figures to discuss the positive, dynamic alternatives to the status quo, which
are on offer. The conclusions of this event left everyone convinced that a
free trade alternative model for Europe and the North Atlantic should be
vigorously pursued.
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The author analysis the ever-misguided political approach of British
politicians to Europe's "Community" revealing the incremental
passage of legislative powers to the EU from our accession in 1972 to the
Amsterdam Treaty. John Bercow also details the costs of Britain's
membership of the European Union and shows that the UK has many attractive
alternatives to European federalism.
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