Brussels - Here are three examples.

NORWAY

While Norway is not a member of the EU, it has very close relations with the bloc by virtue of being a member of the European Economic Area (EEA).

That's why Norway has implemented all agreements relevant to the EU's so-called four freedoms: free movement of goods, persons, services and capital, plus other policies relating to transport, competition, social policy, consumer protection, environment, statistics and company law.

This has resulted in a high degree of economic integration between the EU and Norway, especially when it comes to common competition rules, rules for state aid and government procurement.

Agriculture and fisheries are not covered by the agreement.

Norwegian contributions per year:

- 391 million euros (424.7 million dollars) to EEA

- 447 million euros into education- and science-related EU programmes

- 6 million euros for participating in the fields of justice and home affairs, including participation in the Schengen travel zone.

- 25 million euros annually for European Territorial Cooperation

CANADA

Canada and the EU adopted - after seven years of negotiations – the most comprehensive and ambitious free trade deal the EU has negotiated to date, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

As part of the agreement, all tariffs on industrial and fisheries products will be scrapped: nearly all of them upon entry into force in 2017, the rest after transition periods of up to seven years.

When it comes to agricultural products, the EU and Canada will eliminate 93.8 per cent and 91.7 per cent of tariff lines respectively – again, at the latest, within seven years.

Some agricultural products deemed sensitive, such as eggs or poultry, are exempt, while for others, such as beef and sweetcorn, duty-free access will only be granted for limited quantities.

Public procurement – potentially worth hundreds of billions – has also been liberalized significantly, particularly on the Canadian side, allowing European companies to bid for public contracts in Canada at almost all levels of government.

Canada does not pay into the EU budget, nor has it signed up to EU rules on the free movement of people in return for increased market access.

Services were only liberalized to a limited extent. CETA does introduce further openings in areas such as mining, postal services and maritime transport, but there are also Canadian and EU carve-outs from the deal.

Especially when it comes to financial services, separate regulatory and licensing requirements were kept in place.

To take advantage of the EU financial services ‘passport’, Canadian firms will have to establish a presence in the EU and comply with EU regulations.

TURKEY

The EU and Turkey are linked by a customs union agreement, which came into force on December 31, 1995.

It covers all industrial goods, but does not address agriculture (except processed agricultural products), services or public procurement.

Bilateral trade concessions apply to agricultural as well as coal and steel products.

In December 2016, the European Commission proposed to modernize the customs union and to further extend the bilateral trade relations to areas such as services, public procurement and sustainable development.

The proposal is currently being discussed by EU member states.