Is It Hard For Countries That Are Not Part Of The Eu To Come To The Uk

Why is the EU fighting so hard to stop the UK from leaving? Why not just let the UK go?

EU os not blocking in any way UK leaving what it blocks is the perception from UK best coined by Boris Johnson as cakeism : cakeism - WiktionaryUK was in several agreements some related directly to its membership to EU (As EUU built itself across history it resulted on many agreements with quite a few UK was party of) and not directly tied to EU but greatly facilitated by UK’s EU membership. Good Friday Agreement - Wikipedia is the example that comes to mind in which UK made a deal with Ireland and now that they leave EU they still need to respect this agreement and clearly explain how they try to do this while they reject EU Freedom of Movement.Those agreements came with benefits and sacrifices (that’s the general habit with agreements: you give some and you take some). Freedom of Movement for example is integral to EU 4 freedom. That’s the deal EU offers as indivisible to both its members or any third party that wants to have a strong trade with them (Norway comes to mind). when UK want to pick and chose some of those 4 freedom, it’s having their cake (the tight trade on some goods which benefit their economy) and eat it too (not having to deal with things they don’t want) and EU never accepted that (EEC may have at times but it did not fully knew at this time what it was, EU has a far stronger idea about it).Despite UK politicians threatening repeatedly about a no-deal solution this is an empty threat. No-deal would be disastrous for both Uk and EU as both economies became deeply intertwined during the 50 years or so they worked together. Bringing this exchange back to basic WTO rules would require both parties to deeply change how they work and swallow the newfound cost of those rules (potential tariffs, less fluidity as border checks need to be put in place, …) and it’s clear that UK did not prepare to this eventuality either.What EU wants is to have a solution occur that create the new legal framework in which it will interact with the new third country which is UK. And like any deal it involves negotiations with some rhetorical red lines and absolute ones. The absolute ones relates to what EU believe is its core identity and defence against a repeat of. Brexit by other members. They do not deny UK its right to leave but won’t either make it look to Italy, France, Poland, … that members can easily leave and get exactly what they want while rejecting what ensure EU unity.

Is Britain part of Europe?

Because it is so - by geography, genetics, language and history.GEOGRAPHY. It’s now a group of islands off continental Europe but it was once part of the continent. The Seine, Thames and Rhine, as precursors, were all tributaries to a river that once flowed in the zone of current day English Channel.GENETICS. As of the 21st Century, we have been able to do genetic surveys of Europeans. The most common Y-haplogroup, R1b, is shared by most of Western European men, showing a common ancestor, probably some 12–25 thousands years ago, who lived somewhere around the Caucuses.LANGUAGE. While the first recorded inhabitants of Britain were called “Celtic”, linguistically, those languages groups were pushed to Ireland, Wales and Scotland while the Germanic precursors to Ancient English spread in England. In that respect, Old English was Germanic. Then the 300 plus years of Norman rule led to a superstructure of Old French/Norman lexicon to the point that roughly 60% of Modern English is Romance-based (29% from Old French, 29% from Latin in science, law and administration); Germanic words predominates in everyday terms, phonology whereas Latinate words often coexist as synonyms to Germanic terms but standalone in formal, legal and learned or technical language. e.g. summer (G.) vs estival (L.); fall (G.) vs autumn (L.); lower (G.) vs descend (L.); dog (G.) vs canine (L.); rude (G.) vs impolite (L); showy (G.) vs ostentatious (L.); try (G.) vs attempt (L.)…HISTORY. No need to explain. From the spread of Celtics from central Europe to the migration of Germanics from Vikings, Angles, Saxons, Danes and of Latinates (at least linguistically) from Normandy, the history of Britain is integrated with the rest of Europe.

Why isn't Switzerland a part of the EU?

In short - Because Swiss don't want it.In 2001 76.8% of Swiss voted against joining EU. The sentiment hasn't changed much. Swiss did vote in several measures that are beneficial to them to help integrate economy with EU, but by slight margins, but any further attempts to create a closer political union, have met with staunch opposition.There are several reasons for this attitude:Swiss have a long tradition of neutrality and non-involvement into European Politics that have served them well over the past several centuries, with the exception of the period of Napoleonic Wars.Swiss tend to be more conservative.There is a draft in Switzerland, and most of Swiss men either served in Army or went through alternative service. I think this is important, because people who served, tend to be more conservative in their approach to politics and integration in general.Swiss have recently voted in several measures to prevent further immigration, and to bring back immigration quotas. Being part of EU means that they would have to remove those quotas and follow EU's lead.Swiss banking system right now is very independent. And while it did become a bit more open under pressure from US and EU, becoming part of EU would mean changes to the banking laws as well.Swiss franc is one of the most stable currencies of the world, independently of any other factors. Becoming part of EU would mean becoming part of Euro zone. Recent events with Greece, showed how one member state can affects others. You don't exchange something as good as Swiss franc for something that can be unstable like Euro, because of one irresponsible member. If Swiss had Belorussian rouble as their currency - it would be a different conversation.Becoming part of EU would mean abandonment of Neutrality and participation in EU's military actions around the world. Even if they are just token missions.P.S.:If you enjoy short tidbits of historical trivia - subscribe to my blog right here on Quora called History Bits . I try to add a story or two every week.

If Switzerland can maintain an open border with the EU while not being part of the customs union, why couldn’t the UK do with the Irish border?

Switzerland is part of Schengen and has passport-free, free movement with the EU. The Brexiters in the UK want to leave the European free movement area, Ireland doesn’t.With an open border this would leave a bit of a loop hole for entering the UK.Switzerland is not part of the customs union, it does however tightly align with European laws- basically it copy and pastes EU law into its own. This means there is little concern about quite what is being imported and exported beyond whether you’ve paid tax on it. It is accepted that something made in France is fully compliant with Swiss law and vice-versa.One of the chief rallying cries of the Brexiters was against EU law. They want to implement new lower British standards. Something made in the UK or in the rest of the EU does not necessarily meet the other country’s standards thus requires rigorous checks.The Swiss border is not entirely open.When you enter by train or ferry there are customs officials keeping an eye on you in case you try and sneak through without declaring your goods.Driving through too there are customs officials. They don’t stop and search every single car, however you are required to slow down and drive through the very large and official border post just in case they do decide your car is one they want to check.If you have a van you can virtually guarantee you’ll be checked each time.In Ireland…you have people’s land running across the border. Roads that dip in and out of the Republic and the UK. It’s an altogether much messier border with thousands upon thousands of crossings as opposed to the Swiss borders which are generally marked by geography with only a few major roads.Switzerland is not the UK.It is a much smaller and richer country, landlocked to boot. Swiss exports into the EU aren’t particularly a concern. Its more the Swiss who are the ones who worry about their border controls due to everything being cheaper over the border.Switzerland is never going to be a viable backdoor into the EU.A UK with a uncontrolled border might well be.