Norway and the European Union
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Norway is not a member state of the European Union (EU), but is, in effect, required to adopt much EU legislation due to its participation in the European Economic Area (EEA), through the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Additionally, Norway has chosen to opt into many of the Union's programmes, institutions and activities.[1] Whether or not the country should apply for conventional membership has been one of the most dominant and divisive issues in Norwegian political and economic debate since World War II.
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[edit] History
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In 1963, Norway and the United Kingdom applied for membership in the European Economic Community (EEC). When France rebuffed the UK's application, accession negotiations with Norway, Denmark, Ireland and the UK were suspended. This happened twice.[2]
Norway completed its negotiations for the terms to govern a Norwegian membership in the EEC on 22 January 1972. Following an overwhelming majority in favour of joining the EEC in early 1972, the government decided to put the question to a popular referendum, scheduled for September 24 and 25.[citation needed] The result was that 53.5% voted against membership and 46.5% for it.[2] The Norwegian Labour Party government led by Trygve Bratteli resigned over the outcome of the referendum, and a coalition government led by Lars Korvald took over.[citation needed]
Norway entered into a trade agreement with the community following the outcome of the referendum. That trade agreement remained in force until Norway joined the European Economic Area in 1994.
On 28 November 1994, yet another referendum was held, narrowing the margin but yielding the same result: 52.2% opposed membership and 47.8% in favour, with a turn-out of 88.6%.[3] There are currently no plans to file another application.
As of 2005, Norway pays an annual fee of €240 million to the EU budget but it receives no EU expenditure.[4]
Additionally, Norway has chosen to opt into EU projects such as the Schengen Agreement, Europol, EU Drug Monitoring Centre, Frontex, the European Defence Agency and the Union's battlegroups.[1]
[edit] Characteristics of the debate
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Because these positions to a great extent cut across ideological boundaries, various political parties have dealt with the issue in different ways. The Centre Party has maintained the most principled stand against membership, and though parties such as the Conservative party and the Labour Party support membership in their platform, they allow for a minority to oppose it. Most dramatically, the Liberal Party split over the issue in 1972 at the famed party conference in Røros and did not reunite until 1989.
The EU membership crosses the traditional left-right axis in Norwegian politics. Since the Labour Party lost its dominance in Norwegian politics, all governments have been a coalition of several political parties. Because the EU membership issue almost certainly would break up any conceivable government coalition (except maybe a rainbow coalition of Labour and the Conservatives), no government has raised the subject and no opposition party has stated any desire to do so either.
Disagreements on this issue have been known to create divisiveness within families and local communities. Although there is a general pattern that urban communities favor membership and rural communities don't, there have been vocal minorities in every area of Norway.
Complicating the matter has been that a great variety of political and emotional factors have been raised in the debate. Radical socialists oppose membership because of an opposition to conservative economic and political forces that concern them within Europe; opponents on the right are concerned about an infringement on Norwegian culture; and others are opposed in principle to compromising Norwegian sovereignty. Some social democrats see membership as a way to participate in the global social democratic movement, whereas libertarians favor open markets for capital, services, and goods.
Many observers[who?] felt that the Centre Party misread the situation when they interpreted the narrow majority against membership in 1994 as an endorsement of the party's general platform. Party politics continue to be confounded by this issue, and most governments tend to avoid it.
[edit] Norwegian political parties' positions on membership
Currently, parties supporting or opposing EU membership are to be found in both right-wing and left-wing coalitions: as a result, most governments contain pro- and anti-EU elements. To avoid a new debate on EU, anti-EU parties usually require "suicide paragraphs" in government-coalition agreements: if some party in the coalition officially begins a new debate on EU, the government will fall. This has been true for both the previous centre-right Bondevik government and the current centre-left Stoltenberg government.
| Group | Party | Pos. | Main argument as stated on party websites |
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| Government | Norwegian Labour Party | Yes | "Cooperation; influence in EU decisions."[5] |
| Socialist Left Party | No | "Lack of democracy; too much focus on liberal trade."[6] | |
| Centre Party | No | "EU does not reduce economic differences, and does not strengthen democracy"[7] |
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| Opposition | Progress Party | ? | Will stay neutral; pleads to respect any referendum result[8] |
| Right | Yes | "Peace; stability; solidarity; influence"[9] | |
| Christian People's Party | No | "EEA is good enough, independence"[10] | |
| Venstre | ? | Party divided; "EEA works; wants further coop.; respects a referendum; not democratic enough yet"[11] |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Vårt skjulte EU-medlemskap". Moss-avis. http://www.moss-avis.no/article/20071107/AKTUELLKOMMENTAR/711070001/1021. Retrieved on 2007-11-19. (Norwegian)
- ^ a b "Norway mission to the EU". http://www.eu-norway.org. http://www.eu-norway.org/eu/news/History.htm. Retrieved on 2008-01-21.
- ^ "1994: Norway votes 'no' to Europe". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/28/newsid_4208000/4208314.stm. Retrieved on 2009-01-22.
- ^ "Britain and the EU: are there alternatives to membership?". European Movement. December 2005. http://www.euromove.org.uk/index.php?id=6509. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
- ^ http://arbeiderparti.no/book.asp?ord=EU (Norwegian)
- ^ http://www.sv.no/politikken/eu/ (Norwegian)
- ^ http://www.senterpartiet.no/category8867.html (Norwegian)
- ^ http://www.frp.no/?module=Articles;action=Article.publicShow;ID=14345/ (Norwegian)
- ^ http://www.hoyre.no/temaer/europa_og_eu (Norwegian)
- ^ http://www.krf.no/portal/page?_pageid=33,202561&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&element_id=828651 (Norwegian)
- ^ http://www.venstre.no/sentralt/organisasjon/artikkel/2989/ (Norwegian)
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[edit] External links
[edit] Norwegian government
- Mission of Norway to the EU (English)
[edit] NGOs related to the question of membership
- www.jasiden.no – The European Movement in Norway (Norwegian)
- www.europeiskungdom.no – European Youth in Norway (Norwegian)
- www.neitileu.no – The eurosceptics (Norwegian)
- www.umeu.no – Youth against the EU (Norwegian)
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