ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the proposal to settle for a free trade agreement as one of four alternative futures for Britain and the European Union. The four factors sovereignty, international power, political economy and domestic politics that had once persuaded British governments that they should be out but not completely out now affected adaptation to membership, with the first two easing the transition and the latter two complicating it. The chapter also compares the suggestion that the UK should settle for a free trade agreement with decisions taken at previous critical junctures in Britain's relationship with European integration. However, as British Eurosceptic opinion has found out more about the European economic area (EEA) and Switzerland's bilateral treaties with the Union, the Norwegian and Swiss models have lost favour as means of reconciling British exit with any sovereignty arguments for leaving in the first place.
