Many other countries in the European Union are proud of their sovereignty, Britain for example was also initially reluctant to join the EU and has worried about losing sovereignty ever since. All the Eastern European states have been dominated by outside powers much more recently than Norway has and yet welcome the EU. Many commentators believe that the EU is moving towards being much more based upon regions and small states, something which would fit closely with Swiss and Norwegian membership. [1]  [1] Alesina, Alberto, ‘The Size of Countries: Does it matter?’, 2003, p.313