House of Commons · Written Ministerial Statement
The UK’s future relationship with the EEA EFTA states (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and Switzerland
20 July 2020 · Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Proposed by Wendy Morton Con Aldridge-Brownhills
Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.
At a glance
Key points
- The UK Government has initiated formal negotiations for its future relationships with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
- The Government aims to protect existing cooperation levels and establish ambitious new agreements through these negotiations.
- Negotiations will be sequenced based on specific areas such as trade, citizens' rights, and air services.
Issue summary
The UK Government has initiated formal negotiations for its future relationships with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway (EEA EFTA states) and Switzerland.
Action requested
The Government is conducting negotiations to agree on measures spanning the entire breadth of the relationship with these countries, aiming to protect existing cooperation levels and establish ambitious new agreements. Negotiations will be sequenced based on the specific areas of focus such as trade, citizen's rights, air services, etc., and updates will be provided through regular dialogues and publications.
Key facts
- The UK has signed the EEA EFTA Separation Agreement in January this year.
- Bilateral trade with the EEA EFTA states totalled approximately £27bn in 2019.
- Trade with Switzerland was around £39bn in 2019.
- A successful UK-EEA EFTA Future Relations Dialogue took place on 16 July.
- The first UK-Swiss Future Relations Dialogue occurred on 1 July.