Speaking to the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee on the 5th of November 2014,  Atle Leikvoll, Norwegian Ambassador to the EU, told MEPs that Norway doesn’t pay for the EEA which grants them access to the EU Single Market.   Instead, Norway pays €1.8 billion to help ‘reduce social and economic disparities’ in the European Union.  At the same time, the UK pays over £20 billion pounds to the EU for only slightly better access to the market especially in agricultural products.