The Norwegian prime minister admits that the people had made the right choice in staying out of the Union, writes Hjörtur J. Guðmundsson, but he is still nostalgic about the idea itself, claiming he would still have liked to join the rest in Berlin to commemmorate the 50th Anniversary of the Treaties of Rome.

The Norwegian Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, said in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, March 25, that the Norwegian people were reaping the benefits of their choice to remain outside the European Union, now experiencing a strong economy with low unemployment and high economic growth. He also said that by staying out of the EU Norway had saved its fishing industry. The country had managed its fish resources cleverly and thus has not experienced what has happened in many other countries where fish stocks have been destroyed. Clearly, the prime minister was here mainly referring to EU Member States.

Stoltenberg is chairman of the governing Labour Party, which is one of only two Norwegian political parties that favour EU membership, the other being the Conservative Party (Høyre). His center-left government is a coalition of three parties with the two other parties opposed to the idea of joining the EU. Therefore membership is not on the government’s agenda and according to polls not on the people’s agenda either. However, it was quire remarkable to see Stoltenberg speaking in such a way, considering that he is himself a staunch Europhile.

But despite admitting that the people did the right thing by rejecting EU membership twice in a referendum, first in 1972 and later in 1994, Stoltenberg said he would very much have liked to celebrate the EU’s 50th birthday in Berlin with the leaders of the Member States. In other words he would have liked the Norwegian people to have a weaker economy, more unemployment and less economic growth - besides having their fish industry destroyed - so he could be in Berlin!

This is quite typical of Europhiles in such countries. EU membership itself, or some other integrating steps, are their primary goals; or even their only goals. National interests are at best a side issue.

At the end of the interview Stoltenberg admitted that despite his own desire, EU membership was not on the agenda in Norway. Moreover, he said he did not see it becoming an issue again, which is also very interesting coming from him. The issue, he said, has simply been settled.

Hjörtur J. Guðmundsson
TEAM Board member of Heimssýn, Iceland
email: hjortur@heimssyn.is