Spot on, Howard. Everyone talks about having a deal like Norway or Switzerland which has umpteen expensive strings attached. Why can't we have a free trade agreement such as those the EU has with say, South Korea, Mexico or Chile, which don't have things like free movement and other EU obsessions included? And if we were to remain in the EU, (based on past form), it will be another 30 years before we were to have FTAs with Brazil, India, Russia, China or [U]any[/U] nation in ASEAN. Free of Brussels' shackles we can negotiate FTAs much faster. EU negotiations with India began in 2007 and stalled earlier this year. Although Japan is one of the EU's major trading partners, negotiations towards a formal trade deal have not even been initiated.
Unlike some matters which require a majority vote in the EU to implement, trade agreements require every member state to ratify them individually before any members can benefit. There are many agreements concluded but not yet ratified, covering the Caribbean nations, much of South America and almost all of sub-Saharan Africa.
