Being outside the EU is getting complicated for Norway. For upcoming elections, it is still a non-issue

Relations between Norway and the EU are primarily based on the EEA Agreement. This puts Norway in an interesting position, as it must implement a whole range of European regulations, but at the same time Oslo has no influence over anything in the EU. This seemingly disadvantageous agreement is a Norwegian compromise after voters twice rejected EU membership in referendums, first in 1972 and then again in 1994.

Pernille Rieker, šéfka centra Arena pro evropská studia Univerzity v Oslu a výzkumnice norského institutu pro mezinárodní záležitosti|foto:Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, press, ©

Norway thus faithfully implements European directives, contributes to the member states through grants, and, as a result, actively trades with EU member states. The EU is not usually talked about much in Norway, even though it has recently impacted Norwegian politics twice. First, in energy prices. Norway is part of the common European energy market, and Norwegian cheap and green electricity is attractive to traders. As a result of purchases, the price often rises to dizzying heights.

The second issue is European directives as such. Six months ago, the Centrists left the government because of their implementation. Paradoxically, this strengthened the social-democratic Labour Party, which is in a minority government.

Although the EU is a political issue, it is not being discussed in the campaign ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections. There are several reasons for this. Voters are not keen on change. The Norwegian economy is functioning well under the current model, Norwegians prefer their independence in terms of identity, and most parties do not want to broach the subject of EU membership.

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The main large parties, the Labour Party and the Conservatives, do not want to raise the issue, even though it is part of their programme. This is because there is a risk that doing so would help their rival parties, which reject membership, namely the aforementioned Centrists and, on the right of the political spectrum, the populist Progress Party. The latter is already ahead of the Conservatives in some polls.

But howdoes Norway's non-membership of the EU complicate life for the government there? Primarily in that Norway is excluded from a number of things that would be useful to the country. This is particularly true given the current geopolitical situation, in which the United States is ceasing to be a reliable partner for Europe. In the case of the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines, Norway seized the opportunity and bought them together with the EU, but it was more or less a coincidence:

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„There was also a Swedish coordinator on the committee who suggested that the EU should also take care of Norway. But we had no agreement on this, so it really was a coincidence.“ This sums up Norway's difficulties. The EU deals with issues such as security and cyber protection, where it makes sense for Norway to be involved. However, it has to negotiate a special agreement for each such involvement, as it is not part of the EEA under the original agreement. And that is lengthy and demanding.

What will be the outcome of the Norwegian elections? And could the situation change after the elections, with Norway considering a third referendum on joining the European Union? Listen to these Brussels Bites to find out the answers...