Outside and Inside Norway’S Agreements with the European Union Internet Address
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Official Norwegian Reports NOU 2012: 2 Chapter 1 Published by: Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Outside and Inside Norway’s agreements with the European Union Internet address: www.government.no Cover illustration: Egil Haraldsen & Ellen Lindeberg | Exil Design Printed by: 07 Aurskog AS 01/2012 E JØM RKE IL T M 2 4 9 1 7 3 Trykksak Official Norwegian Reports NOU 2012: 2 Chapter1 Outside and Inside Norway's agreements with the European Union Report by the EEA Review Committee, appointed on 7 January 2010 Submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 17 January 2012 Departementenes servicesenter Informasjonsforvaltning Translation from the Norwegian. For informationOslo only. 2010 Introduction On 7 January 2010, the Norwegian Government appointed a broad-based inde- pendent committee to undertake a thorough, research-based review of the EEA Agreement. The mandate of the Committee called for a comprehensive and thorough review of the political, legal, administrative, economic and other social conse- quences of the EEA Agreement. Moreover, the Committee was asked to review Norway’s experience of the Schengen Agreement and other coopera- tion and association arrangements between Norway and the European Union. The Committee’s work was presented in an official report on 17 January 2012. The report will be subject to public consultation and will form part of the basis for a report (white paper) to the Norwegian parliament (Storting). The 900-page report is extensive, and covers all aspects of Norway’s rela- tions with the EU. The following is an English translation of the first chapter. It gives a brief overview of the Committee’s main findings and presents the main contents of the different parts and chapters. The complete report is available only in Norwegian. There are plans to translate additional excerpts of the report into English at a later stage. The EEA Review Committee consisted of the following members: – Fredrik Sejersted (Chair), Professor of Law, Head of the Centre for Euro- pean Law, University of Oslo – Liv Monica Bargem Stubholt (Deputy Chair), Investment Director, Aker ASA, Oslo – Frank Aarebrot, Professor, Department of Comparative Politics, University of Bergen – Lise Rye, Associate Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim – Dag Seierstad, expert on EU/EEA matters, Lillehammer – Helene Sjursen, Research Professor, Centre for European Studies (ARENA), University of Oslo – Fredrik Bøckman Finstad, lawyer at the law firm Thommessen AS, Oslo – Kate Hansen Bundt, Secretary General of the Norwegian Atlantic Commit- tee, Akershus – Karen Helene Ulltveit-Moe, Professor, Department of Economics, Univer- sity of Oslo – Jonas Tallberg, Professor, Department of Political Science, Stockholm Uni- versity, Sweden – Jon Erik Dølvik, head of research at the research foundation Fafo, Oslo – Peter Arbo, Associate Professor, Norwegian College of Fishery Science, Tromsø The secretariat of the Committee was chaired by Ulf Sverdrup, Professor at the Norwegian School of Management (BI) and Senior Researcher at ARENA, University of Oslo. 4 Official Norwegian Reports 2012: 2 Chapter 1 2012 Outside and Inside Official Norwegian Reports 2012: 2 Chapter 1 5 Outside and Inside Chapter 1 Main message and overview 1.1 Main message yses the key drivers of developments. The general effects on Norway’s economy, politics and society Both Europe as a whole and the EU are currently are also described and examined. in a process of rapid change. The situation is char- All in all, it describes the extensive Europeani- acterised by financial turbulence and political and sation of Norway over the last 20 years. social unrest. Norway is not a member of the EU, In these times of uncertainty and change, it is but is affected both directly and indirectly by particularly important to be aware of and under- developments in Europe. The level of stability and stand the form of association Norway already has welfare in our neighbouring European countries with the EU, and the important ways in which has considerable influence on Norwegian politics, European integration shapes and colours every- the economy and social development. By the time day life in Norway. No comprehensive analysis of this report has been completed, at the beginning the breadth of this process has previously been of 2012, the EU will be in a critical phase, with made. The aim of the report is to provide common great uncertainty about its future course. While ground for an informed and pragmatic debate on some believe the union is about to fall apart, oth- Norway’s complex and complicated relations with ers believe that it will be reinforced and intensi- the EU. fied. At present, it is not possible to say who is Today, Norway’s relations with the EU are right. But whichever way it goes, Norway will be governed by a number of agreements. The largest affected. and most important of these is the EEA Agree- In the spring of 2012, it will be 20 years since ment, which at the time it was signed – in 1992 – the Norwegian Foreign Minister at the time, was the most extensive and comprehensive agree- Bjørn Tore Godal, signed the EEA Agreement on ment Norway had ever entered into. Since then, it behalf of Norway in the Portuguese city Porto on has been further developed. And it has ended up 2 May 1992. Then too, Europe was in a period of affecting far more sectors of society than most transition, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the people envisaged 20 years ago. In addition, Nor- establishment of the internal market, and the way has entered into a number of other agree- prospect of European unification. The EEA Agree- ments with the EU over the years, for example on ment was a milestone. Under the Agreement, Nor- border controls, police cooperation, immigration, way became linked to the European integration foreign, security and defence policy, regional pol- process in a new way. Since then, Norway has icy, agriculture and fisheries. The list is a long become increasingly closely tied to the EU. Coop- one. eration has extended to more and more areas, and The Committee was commissioned to review today Norway’s agreements with the EU affect all the agreements Norway has with the EU today. domestic law and politics and the daily lives and This has provided the framework for the Commit- operations of individual citizens and companies in tee’s work. Its objective has been to present a numerous ways. comprehensive picture of Norway’s association It is not the purpose of this report to speculate with the EU, how it has developed over time, and about future developments in Europe and the EU the consequences for Norwegian society. or alternative forms for Norway’s association with the EU. It describes and analyses Norway’s exist- ing agreements with the EU today, and looks at Foreign policy and domestic policy how they have developed from 1992 to the end of Norway’s relations with the EU have implications 2011. It shows the scope of the various processes, for both foreign policy and domestic policy. recounts important events, and identifies and anal- Firstly, Norway’s agreements with the EU consti- 6 Official Norwegian Reports 2012: 2 Chapter 1 Outside and Inside tute its largest and most important set of agree- mon values and interests between Norway and the ments relating to foreign policy. These agreements 27 EU member states, bound together as we are not only govern Norway’s relations with the EU as by geographical, economic, political, cultural and a whole, but also with the 27 EU member states many other factors. and the other two EFTA EEA states. Among these The last 20 years have shown clearly that the are nearly all the countries Norway has tradition- Norwegian authorities neither can nor wish to iso- ally had close ties with, including all the other late Norway from the increasingly close and bind- Nordic countries. As the EU member states have ing integration processes in the EU. gradually handed over more authority to the EU and increasingly coordinated their actions at Com- munity level, more and more of Norwegian for- The scope of the review eign policy has been focused on relations with the One of the aims of the report is to provide an over- EU as a whole. view of the scope of Norway’s set of agreements Secondly, Norway’s agreements with the EU with the EU today. Under these agreements, Nor- affect domestic policy issues, and they do so to a way has incorporated approximately three-quar- greater extent than any of Norway’s other interna- ters of all EU legislative acts into Norwegian legis- tional agreements. Although the original purpose lation and has implemented them more effectively of Norway’s agreements with the EU is to regu- than many of the EU member states. At the same late cross-border issues, these agreements have time, Norway is neither a member of the EU nor in practice had at least as much importance for involved in the decision-making processes to any domestic issues. They have implications for most significant extent. sectors of society: the economy, business, the Today, Norway is far more closely associated labour market and working conditions, welfare, with the EU than most people realise. This also health, regional policy, energy, environment, cli- applies to many of those who work with EU mat- mate change, transport, research, education, ters on a daily basis, such as politicians, civil serv- food, agriculture, fisheries, alcohol policy, gender ants, journalists and researchers. Those who are equality, consumer protection, civil emergency familiar with some aspects of Norway’s relations preparedness, border controls, immigration, with the EU tend not to be fully aware of others.