[LINK] "Norway Seeks to Piggyback on ‘Brexit’ Deal to Escape EU's Grip"

[rfmcdonald]

Bloomberg's Saleha Mohsin describes how some Norwegians want to take advantage of the United Kingdom's Brexit referendum to renegotiate their relationship with the European Union.

The case [of Norway] illustrates how hard it will be for the U.K. to escape the bloc’s influence even if it decides to head for the exit. While voters have twice rejected joining the EU, Norway has still adopted 75 percent of its laws to access the lucrative single market.

Some lawmakers in Europe’s second-richest nation per capita now want a deal similar to the one U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron struck with the EU on curbing welfare benefits for workers from other member states.

“Thanks to Britain’s agreement with the EU, we could solve some of our own issues,” said Arve Kambe, a lawmaker of the ruling Conservatives who is chairman of parliament’s labor and social affairs committee. “We want to have the same options that Britain has with work-related benefits.”

With an economy backstopped by an $810 billion wealth fund, Norway has a lot to offer foreign workers. The nation provides its 5.2 million residents with publicly funded health care, parental benefits and practically free education.

As a result, it now spends about 223 million kroner ($25.8 million) a year on family and work-related benefits for migrants, according to Kambe. The problem, for Kambe, it that much of the cash is being sent back to Poland, Bulgaria or other countries where the cost of living is lower. These payments should be adjusted depending on the country, he said.

Norway also has far larger costs in accessing EU’s internal market as a member of the European Economic Area. Western Europe’s biggest crude producer contributes roughly 860 million euros ($948 million) annually to help implement EU policy and for programs designed to reduce economic disparities within the bloc, according to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry.