Aris Georgopoulos: In Case of Brexit, the Most the UK could be Hopeful is the Type of the Norway Model (EXCLUSIVE)

• 06.21.2016, 13:52
•  Europe,  World,  Interview

nottingham.ac.uk

 "Armedia" IAA presents an exclusive interview with a Lecturer in European and Public Law at the School of Law of the University of Nottingham, Dr Aris Georgopoulos. He is also member of the Athens Bar, registered at the Athens Court of Appeal and Head of the Research Unit for Strategic and Defence Procurement of the Public Procurement Research Group (PPRG). 

- Mr. Georgopoulos, what is your stance on the upcoming referendum? Should the UK stay in the EU or leave it? And why?

-  I think that the UK should stay in the EU, as it benefits from its membership in the European Union. If we look at the actual status of the UK, we realize that the UK has an amazing deal. It is a part of a single market, as one of the three big EU Member States is able to influence the decision-making, as well as how the rules of the single market and beyond that are shaped. At the same time the UK is not part of the Euro zone and it has its monetary sovereign decision-making and it is able to use the monetary tools to adjust, when there is an economic crisis. Something that many other countries of the EU do not possess. At the same time the UK is not bound to Schengen area. So I think that it would be a pity to lose this position.

- Taking into consideration the polls, the number of the supporters of Brexit and those, who are against it is very close to each other, so Brexit outcome should not be excluded. In case of such outcome, what will change?

- Yes, the polls suggest that the votes will be extremely close either way. Let’s assume that there is a Brexit vote. One should not be an economist to predict that it will trigger a huge amount of uncertainty in the markets. So after Brexit there will be immediate repercussions. If there is a Brexit vote, Britain’s "divorce" from the EU will need a renegotiation process of the relationship and actually you do not know what that relationship would be. The best scenario, the most the UK could be hopeful is the type of the Norway model, a country, which is not an EU Member State, but it has an access to the EU single market. This access means that the state still contributes to the budget and has to accept the free movement, as there cannot be access to the single market without accepting all "four freedoms". However, the problem is that Norway is not part of the table. Sometimes Norway is there, but it is silent, it cannot do anything. It is this status that should be compared with the one that the UK already has. Here I brought an example of the best option in case of Brexit.

- In case of either outcome, should we expect internal shocks in the UK?

- The campaign has gone a bit ugly during the last few weeks. However, the UK is a mature democracy, it has an institutional memory and whatever the results, any aftermath will be within the Constitutional acceptable ground (this is my belief and my hope). The British society is mature enough to accept the democratic choice either way.