Norway’s relations with Europe

History

Norway is territorially, politically, economically and culturally a part of Europe. After the Second World War, contributing to peace, stability and prosperity in Europe as well as in the rest of the world became a central concern of Norwegian foreign policy. Norway thus became one of the founders of the United Nations in 1945, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (now the OECD) in 1948 and the Council of Europe and NATO in 1949.

Yet Norwegian participation in the establishment, in the 1950s, of what eventually became the European Union was not considered. The reason was the fact that Norway’s close ally, the United Kingdom, did not take part. Instead, Norway together with the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden and several other states established EFTA, The European Free Trade Association, in 1960. Norway applied for membership of the EEC later on in the 1960s, but with France blocking British membership, Norway’s applications were never dealt with. A Norwegian referendum held in 1972 returned a vote of 53.5 per cent against Norwegian membership of the EC. Then in 1994, 52.2 per cent of the Norwegian voters again voted No. Thus the EEA Agreement, which had entered into force on 1 January 1994, continued to be the cornerstone of Norway’s association with the EU.

Norway's European policy

The European Union has been the driving force behind many of the far-reaching changes that have taken place in Europe since the Second World War. Aspects of the development of the EU have consequences for Norway. For this reason, Norway’s relations with the EU and its Member States are a central element in its European policy, and the government seeks to co-operate with the EU in all areas in which EU policies affect Norway. It is not aiming for Norwegian EU membership, but pursues an active European policy to promote peace, stability and welfare in Europe.

Norway’s co-operation and contact with the EU

Norway’s co-operation and contact with the EU cover most of the EU’s spheres of activity. The Norwegian prime minister and many of the other ministers meet twice a year with their counterparts in the country holding the EU presidency, and meetings at the political level are held regularly with the European Commission and the European Parliament.

These are the main fields of co-operation.

Norway’s involvement in other European fora

The government gives high priority to Norway’s participation in pan-European organisations such as the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and NATO. Moreover, the government considers it important to contribute to the efforts to ensure that Europe takes it share of responsibility and promotes solutions based on global co-operation. The UN and the WTO in particular have important parts to play in this respect. The government also gives very high priority to co-operation in the Nordic, Barents, Baltic and North Sea regions. Concrete examples of Norway’s engagement in Europe are shown here.

( Last updated . February 05)