{"id":590896,"date":"2026-05-18T16:56:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/590896\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T16:56:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:56:17","slug":"rejoin-reset-or-go-swiss-style-how-the-uk-could-try-to-unpick-brexit-brexit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/590896\/","title":{"rendered":"Rejoin, reset or go Swiss-style? How the UK could try to unpick Brexit | Brexit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is it too soon? Is it even doable? Few expected that, 10 years after the Brexit referendum and barely six years after its exit from the European Union<\/a>, the UK would be talking about rejoining.<\/p>\n

Over the weekend, the former health secretary and posible Labour leadership contender Wes Streeting<\/a> claimed Keir Starmer\u2019s government needed \u201ca new special relationship with the EU\u201d and that one day the best answer was to be \u201cback in the EU\u201d.<\/p>\n

Here are the options Streeting might have if he were PM.<\/p>\n

The moonshot: full-fat membership of the EU<\/p>\n

This would be challenging. While a referendum is not legally required, it would be desirable politically.<\/p>\n

Many believe a referendum would have to show support of more than 60%, possibly closer to 70%, to cement a return. The EU would be unlikely to countenance accession talks without gold-plated security the UK wouldn\u2019t wobble back in another 10 years.<\/p>\n

Remember, the political energy expended on accession is huge \u2013 and many member states may prefer to spend it on Ukraine and Moldova, which are critical to the EU\u2019s security on the eastern flank.<\/p>\n

A recent survey by Best for Britain<\/a> showed more than 80% of those planning to vote Labour, Liberal Democrat or Green supported a full return to the EU, but only 53% of voters as a whole felt the same.<\/p>\n

Bar charts of support for policy options<\/a><\/p>\n

Even if the UK could deliver a huge majority in favour of return to the EU, technical-level talks would inevitably be intense and full of potential bear traps, starting with the unstitching of the withdrawal agreement, which covered Northern Ireland, citizens\u2019 rights and the divorce bill.<\/p>\n

The Swiss-style halfway house<\/p>\n

Switzerland is not a member of the EU but it struck a deal last year<\/a> cementing its \u201cfrictionless access\u201d to the single market, access to the EU\u2019s electricity market, space programmes, Erasmus and the Digital Europe research programme, and participation in the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.<\/p>\n

In exchange, Switzerland agreed to free movement of people and to pay \u20ac375m (\u00a3326m) a year into the EU\u2019s economic and cohesion funds.<\/p>\n

The EU offered the UK a Swiss-style deal but it was rejected by Boris Johnson because it required regulatory alignment and free movement.<\/p>\n

The Norway-style halfway house<\/p>\n

The UK could rejoin the single market through membership of the European Economic Area, also previously rejected by Starmer.<\/p>\n

Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland \u2013 which is toying with the idea of joining the EU after Donald Trump\u2019s threats to Greenland \u2013 are all part of the EEA.<\/p>\n

To become a member of the EEA, the UK would first have to negotiate membership of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). It would also have to accept free movement.<\/p>\n

4. Status quo: ready, steady, reset<\/p>\n

This would involve continuing Keir Starmer\u2019s bit-by-bit alignment with the EU.<\/p>\n

The limit of ambition of the reset was seen as politically expedient two years ago, and the UK remains nervous about how a likely deal will play out publicly, especially as it has cast a youth mobility scheme as immigration and insisted on capping numbers under 50,000 a year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Critics say the deal will have little discernible impact on the economy or the damage Labour says has been caused by Brexit.<\/p>\n

5. New ideas?<\/p>\n

The Swiss deal shows how Brussels tires of spending political and executive energy on constantly having to maintain and update agreements with a third country \u2013 but it also shows it can be open to imaginative and flexible ideas.<\/p>\n

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