Originally Posted by: marcelus 
In any global negotiations such as this, the DG Trade position is defined by the strength of national preferences. Any submissions from Whitehall or other countries with large auto industries would absolutely be adopted to the negotiating position. The working groups are only a minor part of the influence national governments have. There are Brussels-based UK civil servants who have a huge say on things like this, if they want to have a say and in this case the UK car industry itself would also have lobbied heavily.
It doesn't matter if Norway had a seat at the table. Nobody cares what they think because they're small and insignificant. You can be damn sure that the EU dictated the play. The, UK on its own couldn't even dream of influencing discussions such as this in the way the EU can and there's no way in hell Norway has more of a say over any agreed auto technical standards than the UK does.
Your argument is based on a strict interpretation of EU governance structures and an international regulatory body but is ignorant of how these institutions work in practice.
Norway plays quite a skilled game, defending its interests where it has a strong economic presence, and yielding on issues which are of less importance it it. Thus, it is extremely powerful on the Codex fish and fish products committee, which it chairs, but less so where its interests are not so acute.
Your pastiche argument is drawn from the level two Janet and John manual. It is partially true, but not wholly so. The work on international committees is largely conducted by consensus, and if Noway decided, for instance, to expend the political capital on "throwing a strop" on a particular issue, by threatening to block proceedings, and then to vote against it and other measures, it would probably get its way. There would be a political price to pay, but that is how the game works.
Negotiations, therefore, have elements not dissimilar to three-dimensional chess, where there are a myriad of positions and permutations. There is no one scenario that covers them all. Thus, while the EU is indeed a powerful player, in its own way - in issues of interest to it - so is Norway and, despite not being fully absorbed into the EU collective, punches above its weight. Skillfully handled positions by the UK, outside the EU matrix would have like effect.
Edited by user 21 May 2013 11:07:21(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified
