The European Economic Area and the European Free Trade Association — a run down of who’s in and who’s out.
Britain's exit from the European Union looks increasingly likely to involve a transitional period on the fringes of the bloc while it maintains some of the advantages it currently enjoys and gives it more time to negotiate the details of a future trading relationship. Some soft Brexiteers even hope the U.K. can stay on the fringes indefinitely.
The most likely approach is for it to rejoin the European Economic Area from outside the EU, putting it in a similar position to Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland. The agreement creating the EEA entered into force on January 1, 1994 and brings together the EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway in a single market, referred to as the "Internal Market."