eSignature Legitimateness for Contracts in European Union

How to eSign a document: eSignature legitimateness for contracts in European Union

hello and welcome to another tldr eu video with brexit negotiations continuing along between the eu and uk we thought it'd be time to step back and take a look at eu negotiations past present and future specifically taking a look at where negotiations have failed in the past where they've succeeded and where they're still ongoing all the while analyzing what the eu really wants so in this video we'll take a look at norway a member of the european free trade association and part of the european economic area looking into what their relationship is with the eu how they got there and whether it's a good model going forward we just reached 50 000 subscribers on tldr eu so thank you all so much for your support but we know that a whole bunch of you haven't clicked the button just yet so if you're still waiting then be sure to lend us a hand also hitting the bell icon means that you'll be notified next time we release a video in this series about the eu's deals or you can find a link to the playlist in the description now before we get any angry comments yes i know that technically norway's relationship isn't a trade agreement in the traditional sense that being said norway's relationship with the european union one that's constantly evolving is an interesting one to consider so we're doing it anyway as always let's get some background first in 1960 the european free trade association or efta was established aiming to promote closer economic cooperation and free trade in europe with substantially more members than now including norway austria denmark portugal sweden switzerland and the uk since then the group has shrunk as members decided to further integrate into the eu by joining the eea or the eu itself between 1961 and 1967 norway along with ireland denmark and the uk twice applied to join the european economic community twice being struck down by french president charles de gaulle who also explicitly vetoed the uk's application leading to a freezing of other members applications to the club in 1969 following the resignation of de gaulle the country's applications were reheated with negotiations finally beginning the next year the negotiation of joining the european community was finally put to the norwegian people in a referendum a referendum in which 53.5 percent of norwegian rejected european community accession something they do yet again in 1994 rejecting explicit eu membership with a majority of 52 of the norwegian electorate the very purpose of the european economic area is clear access to the european single market without becoming a member of the european union as the european parliament themselves report the current after countries do not wish to join the eu despite not requiring full integration the european economic area goes beyond traditional free trade agreements by extending the full rights and obligations of the eu's international market to the efta countries which means incorporating the four freedoms free movement of goods people services and capital all the while leaving after members out of the customs union out of the common trade policy out of the economic and monetary union and crucially for some out of the common agricultural and common fisheries policies although that's not to say that fishing is completely free from european control agreements do exist in line with the spirit of the common fisheries and agricultural policies in fact the eea agreement which underpins the area nonetheless guarantees equal rights and obligations within the internal market for individuals and economic operators in the eea norway's relationship with the european union has been a point of contention before throughout the brexit debate and the negotiation period the prospect of the uk remaining closely aligned with the european union as a member of the eea and efta was for many on the cards therefore some suggested that the uk could simply command c command v existing agreements with very little contention following a norway style model but is this even true well putting aside the drawbacks of efta eea membership for the likes of norway and others for the moment can the after model simply be copied and pasted for other countries it's worth noting that all after countries are relatively small hence the entry of a medium or large members such as the uk may end up diluting the club professor anand menon of the uk in a changing europe highlighted this very issue back in april 2019 the eu itself would have to have a say as to whether to let us into the eea would member states really be happy to provide a competitor economy the size of the uk the benefits enjoyed by small specialized economies of the ea norway by far the biggest economy in the ea is economically equivalent to the northwest of england yorkshire and humber combined iceland's economy is the size of suffolks and liechtenstein's is less than half of coventry economically the knock-on impacts on the single market of these economies not fully applying to eu regulations is relatively minor when it comes to the uk it would not be norway ultimately is not part of the european customs union which means that trade into the eu is far from completely frictionless rather rules of origin exist norwegian goods barring farm produce and fish can be imported tariff-free into the eu but norwegian exporters must prove that their goods qualify as having originated in norway to benefit from this preferential treatment with the institute for government stating that typically an export arriving in the eu from norway needs to be 60 local value added to be eligible for tariff-free access however unlike the likes of canada for example norwegian exporters do not have to undergo regulatory checks so does the european economic area ultimately work for norway well from a friction point of view yes norway applies eu regulations and thus avoids most of the non-tariff barriers border processes are streamlined given shared i.t systems and joint control zones and eea waivers means the entry exit declarations aren't required further reducing friction norway can strike trade agreements with non-eu third parties but the institute for government again highlights that these tend to be shallower than the eu's but norway is often referred to as a rule taker eea members are consulted on new single market rules but otherwise have no vote in deciding whether or not they're actually implemented regardless norway themselves stressed the closeness of their relationship with the eu in a norwegian ministry of foreign affairs brochure entitled norway and the eu partners in europe it's highlighted that norway and the eu share the same fundamental values and face many of the same challenges close cooperation at political level is essential to find joint solutions to these problems norway seeks to promote its interests and contribute to a positive development in europe so what do you think do you think the european free trade association and eea are the best of both worlds or the recipe for a domestic disaster and importantly what eu trade agreement should we cover next let us know your thoughts in the comments below be sure to subscribe the channel and hit the bell icon to be notified every time we release a video you can also find more from us across all social networks simply by searching for tldr news special thanks to our patreon backers who make videos like this one possible and if you want to see your name listed at the end of videos then be sure to back us on patreon there's a link to that in the description you