The average British voter will not notice any difference after Brexit if the UK forges a relationship with the EU similar to the one Norway has, President Obama has said.
In an interview with NPR on Tuesday, Obama also warned against "hysteria" in the wake of the UK's decision to leave the EU.
"Keep in mind that Noway is not a member of the EU," he said. "But Norway is one of our closest allies, they align themselves on almost every issue with Europe and us, they are a place that is continentally supporting the kinds of initiatives internationally that we support.
"And if over the course of what is going not be at least a two year negotiation between England and Europe, Great Britain ends up being affiliated to Europe like Norway is, the average person is not going not notice a big change."
It is not yet clear what the UK's relationship with the EU will end up looking like. The so-called 'Norway option' would see Britain push for membership of the membership of the European Economic Area.
This would give the UK access to the single market however it would not be able to limit the free movement of people - as promised by the 'Leave' campaign.
During the referendum campaign, Obama warned British voters the UK would be at the "back of the queue" for a free trade agreement with the US if it voted for Brexit.
In the interview today, he said the best way to think about Brexit was that a "pause button has been pressed on the project of full European integration".
"There's been a little bit of hysteria post-Brexit vote, as if somehow NATO's gone, the trans-Atlantic alliance is dissolving, and every country is rushing off to its own corner. That's not what's happening."
He added: "I don’t anticipate there is going to be major cataclysmic changes as a consequence of this".
