Norway almost as deeply integrated in the EU as the UK

When we think about Norway and the European Union, Britain tends to surface. But what is Norway's EU relationship in reality?


Media shortcut

EurActiv alerted me to the publication of the study on future EU relations of Norway. The article presents the current position of Norway as a member of the European Economic Area (and member of the European Free Trade Associaiton EFTA), as well as the main findings and quotes from Norwegian experts.

When Kirsty Hughes offers the main points on BBC News, Britain crops up early on:

"We are almost as deeply integrated as the UK," says report committee chairman Prof Fredrik Sejersted.

Views and News from Norway contribute with an assessment of the opinion climate in the country, and predict that the current relationship will continue with little change.


Official information

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs offers a press release about the review of Norway's agreements with the European Union. The study forms the basis for a white paper on EU relations to be published later this year, says foreign minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

Chapter 1 (17 pages) of the massive report Outside and Inside – Norway's agreements with the European Union (Official Norwegian Reports 2012:2) is available in English. It offers and introduction, the main messages and an overview.

Readers of Norwegian are able to find the relationship explored in painstaking detail in the original, which runs to 911 pages including the annexes:

Utenfor og innenfor – Norges avtaler med EU (NOU Norges offentlige utredninger 2012:2, 17. januar 2012)


Some thoughts

In the wake of the national leaders' inability to solve the crisis in the eurozone, between seven and eight Norwegians out of ten are now opposed to EU membership. Thus, Norway seems set to continue the necessary ties with a huge democratic deficit.

The EU accession of Norway's EEA companion Iceland (some EU views here) would strain the agreement on the European Economic Area, but I would be astonished if the population of Iceland actually decided to join in the upcoming referendum even if the negotiations lead to an agreement.



Ralf Grahn

P.S. Those of you who are interested in the European online public space, as well the issues of information and propaganda from the institutions of the European Union, should read Mathew Lowry's blog article about an alternative overaching EU communication strategy.

European Economic Area (EEA) in practice

The European Economic Area (EEA) extends the four freedoms of the European Community to the EFTA states Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, giving them access to an internal market of 30 states and almost 500 million people. Agriculture and fisheries are excluded, but the EFTA EEA countries cooperate in other policy areas as well.

The basic document is the Agreement on the European Economic Area. More information is available on the EFTA web pages about the EEA Agreement.



Quick overviews are offered by a number of EEA fact sheets.


***

Technical adaptation

The European Community (European Union) legislation in the relevant areas is constantly evolving. The purpose of this blog post is limited: to show how “technical” new provisions are adopted by the non-EU members. Article 98 of the EEA Agreement spells out the mechanism for amending the Annexes to the Agreement, as well as the Protocols mentioned:

Article 98

The Annexes to this Agreement and Protocols 1 to 7, 9 to 11, 19 to 27, 30 to 32, 37, 39, 41 and 47, as appropriate, may be amended by a decision of the EEA Joint Committee in accordance with Articles 93 (2), 99, 100, 102 and 103.



***

In practice

The Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 28.5.2009 L 130 offers examples of recent Decisions by the EEA Joint Committee, numbers 21 to 39/2009 amending Annexes.


Joint Committee Decision 40/2009 amends Protocol 31 on cooperation in specific fields outside the four freedoms.



Ralf Grahn

Air Transport Agreement USA, European Community, Iceland and Norway

On the legal information portal Eur-Lex, under Preparatory acts, COM documents, the Commission has published two documents on the accession of Norway and Iceland to the EU-US Air Transport Agreement, creating market access for air carriers:


EU-US Air Transport Agreement


Brussels, 15.5.2009 COM(2009) 226 final:



Proposal for a
Decision of the Council and the representatives of the Governments of the Member States of the European Union, meeting within the Council

On the signature and provisional application of the Air Transport Agreement between the United States of America, for the one part, the European Community and its Member States, for the second part, Iceland, for the third part, and the Kingdom of Norway, for the fourth part; and

On the signature and provisional application of the Ancillary Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the first part, Iceland, on the second part, and the Kingdom of Norway, of the third part, regarding the application of the Air Transport Agreement between the United States of America, of the first part; the European Community and its Member States, of the second part; Iceland, of the third part; and the Kingdom of Norway, of the fourth part


***

Ancillary Agreement


Brussels, 15.5.2009 COM(2009) 229 final:






Proposal for a

Decision of the Council and the representatives of the Governments of the Member States of the European Union, meeting within the Council

On the conclusion of the of the Air Transport Agreement between the United States of America, for the one part, the European Community and its Member States, for the second part, Iceland, for the third part, and the Kingdom of Norway, for the fourth part; and

On the conclusion of the Ancillary Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the first part, Iceland, on the second part, and the Kingdom of Norway, of the third part, regarding the application of the Air Transport Agreement between the United States of America, of the first part; the European Community and its Member States, of the second part; Iceland, of the third part; and the Kingdom of Norway, of the fourth part

Procedure number: 2009/0066 (CNS)



Ralf Grahn

Eurovision: Norway and Iceland – Nordics in EU

The Eurovision Song Contest migrates from oil and gas producing Russia to similarly employed Norway, but let us not draw too many parallels.

The European Economic Area (EEA) did rather well in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow. Alexander Rybak of Norway came out on top with Fairytale, and Yohanna from Iceland came second with Is It True?


***

Norway

Today 17 May Norwegians have woken up to National Day (syttende mai), celebrated in an Independence Day atmosphere. Referendums have twice rejected membership in the European Union, and EFTA country Norway is a member of the internal market through the European Economic Area, the largest common market in the world with 500 million inhabitants. Norway participates in the Schengen Agreement on external border control and internal travel, as well as in various issues concerning the area of freedom, security and justice.

Norway is a wealthy and stable democracy, and it belongs to the top of the world in many international rankings.

Despite close cooperation, membership negotiations with the European Union are not part of Norway’s more serious Eurovision in the near future.


***

Iceland

According the Iceland Review Online the new government of Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdadóttir is preparing a parliamentary resolution on launching EU membership talks, and has conducted advance discussions with the opposition parties.


***


The resolution will be presented to the Althingi parliament next week, but it remains to be seen if Sigurdadóttir’s plan to submit a membership application in July will be approved by a parliament where most of the parties have resisted joining the EU.

Like Norway, Iceland is part of the fifteen year old EEA and the Schengen Agreement. Despite the financial disaster, Iceland is a stable democracy (with the world’s oldest parliament), rule of law, as well as Nordic quality governance and public services.

If the difficult issues, such as fishing rights, can be solved, most of the Community legislation (acquis communautaire) could be ticked off at record speed.

If matters advance that far, Icelanders would most probably decide on the membership in a referendum, but it is difficult to predict the outcome.


***


Unenthusiastic Europeans?

People sometimes wonder that people in the Nordic countries inside the European Union are fairly unenthusiastic about the European project, and two still remain on the outside.

Denmark joined only in 1973, together with the United Kingdom and Ireland. Sweden and Finland became EU members even later, in 1995.

Norway and Iceland, as stated above, are still on the outside.

There are other causes, besides relatively short periods of EU membership. Despite high levels of taxation, Nordic citizens are justifiably proud of their economic and technological standards, quality of life, good governance, high quality public services and fairly equal societies.

EU (or continental) standards of governance are not necessarily perceived as improvements. Here the European Union has a lot to do, if it wants to be less of a let-down. On the other hand, only a constant willingness to learn and to improve will keep the Nordics in the top of the world leagues, so a degree of humility is not only becoming, it is a necessity.

The Eurovision of the Nordic EU members’ governments can hardly be described as enthusiastic, but generally as constructive and pragmatic.

Business interests hope for more decisive action by the EU to free world trade, to improve the internal market and to get the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs moving.

Citizens, perhaps grudgingly, gradually acknowledge the need for more Europe with regard to climate change, the environment, energy, development policies and peace missions.


Ralf Grahn

European elections: UKIP for Mexico

Read UKIP’s campaign policies for the Euro elections, and find out that Mexico is the way to go for Britain, according to Nigel Farage and his not so angry old men.

The main plank of the UK Independence Party’s manifesto for the European elections 2009 is:

“The UK Independence Party believes that the UK should withdraw from the European Union and that our membership should be replaced with a genuine free trade agreement similar to those enjoyed by other non-EU nations such as Switzerland, Norway and Mexico.”

***

If UKIP manages to get the United Kingdom out of the European Union, the party is less particular about the future model of cooperation. Reassuringly, friendly relations can be seen as opting for peace rather than war, but free trade can come in different shapes.

Norway is part of the European Economic Area (EEA), which gives it access to the internal market, but without real powers to form the rules.

Switzerland is formally bound only by bilateral treaties with the European Union, but in practice a virtual member of the EEA.

Non-European Mexico has agreed on a free trade area (FTA) with the European Union. Recently the relations have been upgraded to a strategic partnership.


***

The common feature of the three examples is that the relationships have evolved, becoming ever closer.

Interestingly, UKIP proposes that the United Kingdom should renounce its seat at the tables, where European decisions are made.

I hope that UK voters conduct a full debate on the ways and means, well ahead of the European elections.


Ralf Grahn

Christmas statement to Latvia

The Nordic Finance Ministers have issued a Christmas statement to the beleaguered Latvian Government, promising supplementary credits. Here is the 23 December 2008 joint statement:

Joint statement from the Ministers of Finance in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden regarding lending to Latvia

The IMF Executive Board has today approved a financial package for Latvia. The package is linked to an extraordinary strong economic reform programme that includes a fiscal consolidation of around 7 percent of GDP already in 2009. The Nordic countries stand ready to provide credits of up to €1.8 billion contingent on the successful implementation of the reform programme.

Like in the case of Iceland, the Nordic countries - Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden - have worked closely together and jointly decided to contribute to the financing of the IMF-programme. The total amount the Nordic countries are prepared to lend equals the support provided for Iceland 1.8 billion euro.

The programme is very ambitious and shows that Latvia is firmly committed to stick to the present currency peg. It will be particularly important to rebalance the current account and improve the economy’s external competitiveness through the full implementation of the fiscal plans and ensuring that wages develop in line with the requirements that come with the fixed exchange rate. The authorities also need to work hard with structural reforms aiming at developing a competitive export sector and improving the institutional framework of the economy.

With the implementation of the programme Latvia should be in a position to weather the present turbulence and move towards a path of sustainable growth and more balanced macroeconomic developments.

Anders Borg, Kristin Halvorsen, Jyrki Katainen and Lars Løkke Rasmussen

***

Despite the IMF rescue package and coordinated help from the Nordic countries, Latvia faces a rough 2009 and beyond.


Ralf Grahn