Mr. Michael Ewing:

When the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, it will not be directly under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, but indirectly it will still be using the court because whatever agreements it reaches with the European Union on trade and other matters, the members of the European Union will obviously refer any dispute to the European Court.

Any arrangement made with the United Kingdom will have to be on the basis of an understanding they are referable to the European Court because that is the way we operate in the European Union. Whatever trading arrangements are in place will have to be based on existing standards. The standards will be judged by the European Court. I can see the court having a continuing role, with the Commission, in deciding what goes on in the United Kingdom. It is a very strange situation but that seems to be the legal advic. Who knows?

With regard to the borders, there has been no example of this before. With regard to the relationship between Switzerland and the European Union, as pointed out, Switzerland has very high standards. The Nordic countries have very high standards. Relationships are good. To the east, it was very different. Obviously, relationships there were very different. It will be interesting to see what comes out of the study.