Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

is not a member state of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU). However, it is associated with the Union through its membership in the

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Asso ...

(EEA), signed in 1992 and established in 1994. Norway was a founding member of the

European Free Trade Association The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization and free trade area consisting of four List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Europe, European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. ...

(EFTA) in 1960, which was originally set up as an alternative to the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

(EEC), the main predecessor of the EU. Norway had considered joining both the EEC and the European Union, but opted to decline following referendums in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

and

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. According to the European Social Survey conducted in 2018, 73.6% of Norwegians would vote 'No' in a referendum to join the European Union. Norway shares land borders with two EU member states, namely

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and maritime borders with a third,

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Comparison

Trade

The EU dominates Norway's trade and is Norway's most important import and export partner. On the other hand, Norway is the EU's fourth most important import partner and seventh most important export partner. In 2008, Norway's exports to the EU amounted to €91.85 billion, with most of this value coming from energy supplies and other primary products (only 14.1% were manufactured products). Meanwhile, Norwegian imports from the EU amounted to €43.58 billion, with most of this value coming from manufactured products.

European Economic Area (EEA)

The EEA agreement grants Norway access to the EU's single market. From the 23,000 EU laws currently in force, the EEA has incorporated around 5,000 (in force) meaning that Norway is subject to roughly 21% of EU laws. According to Norway's Foreign Affairs (NOU 2012:2 p. 790, 795), from the legislative acts implemented from 1994 to 2010, 70% of EU directives and 17% of EU regulations in force in the EU in 2008 were in force in Norway in 2010. Overall, this means that about 28% of EU legislation in force of these two types in 2008 were in force in Norway in 2010. While the Norwegian parliament has to approve all new legislation that has "significant new obligations", this has been widely supported and usually uncontested; between 1992 and 2011, 92% of EU laws were approved unanimously, and most of the rest by a broad majority. This arrangement facilitates the free movement of goods, capital, services, and people between the EU and EFTA members, including Norway. Free movement of goods means freedom from customs fees, where however, food and beverage are excluded (because those are subsidised by the EU). Due to customs fees, fishing and agriculture incur over €100 million of tariffs annually. Joining the European Union as a full member would eliminate these fees and lead to lower

food prices Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices affect producers and consumers of food. Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing and food di ...

in Norway. Farmers and the fishing industry oppose this as it would create additional competition for domestic producers. Free movement of people means freedom of movement for workers between Norway and EU, and that Norway is a part of the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

. Norway has been granted participation rights (save voting rights) in several of the Union's programmes, bodies, and initiatives. These include security and defence areas like the European Defence Agency, the Nordic Battle Group, Frontex,

Europol Europol, officially the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, is the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU). Established in 1998, it is based in The Hague, Netherlands, and serves as the central hub for coordinating c ...

and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. Whether or not the country should apply for full membership has been one of the most dominant and divisive issues in modern Norwegian political debate. Norway's total financial contribution linked to the EEA agreement consists of contributions related to the participation in these projects and partly made available to development projects for reducing social and economic disparities in the EU ( EEA and Norway Grants). EEA EFTA states fund their participation in programmes and agencies by an amount corresponding to the relative size of their gross domestic product (GDP) compared to the GDP of the whole EEA. The EEA EFTA participation is hence on an equal footing with

EU member states The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated population of over 449million as of 2024. The EU is often de ...

. The total EEA EFTA commitment is 2.4% of the overall EU programme budget. In 2008, Norway's contribution was €188 million. Throughout the programme period 2007–2013, the Norwegian contribution will increase substantially in parallel with the development of the EU programme budget, from €130 million in 2007 to €290 million in 2013. For the EEA and Norway Grants from 2004 to 2009, Norway provided almost €1.3 billion.

History

In 1962,

applied for membership in the

(EEC) with Ireland as well as fellow EFTA members Denmark and the United Kingdom having applied to join the previous year. When

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

rebuffed the United Kingdom's application the following year, accession negotiations with Norway and the other countries were also suspended because of their strong economic ties. This happened again in 1967. Norway completed its negotiations for the terms to govern a Norwegian membership in the EEC on 22 January 1972. Following an overwhelming parliamentary majority in favour of joining the EEC in early 1972, the government decided to put the question to a popular

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

, scheduled for 24 and 25 September. The result was that 53.5% voted against membership and 46.5% for it. The

Norwegian Labour Party The Labour Party (; , A or Ap; ), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party (, DNA), is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Norway, political party in Norway. It is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectru ...

government led by Trygve Bratteli resigned over the outcome of the referendum, and a coalition government led by Lars Korvald took over. Norway entered a trade agreement with the Community following the referendum's outcome. That trade agreement continued until Norway joined the

on 1 January 1994. On 28 November 1994, a second referendum was held, narrowing the margin but yielding the same result: 52.2% opposed membership and 47.8% in favour, with a turn-out of 88.6%. There are currently no plans to resume their current application, which is currently frozen. Norway was an associate member of the Western European Union until the organisation terminated in 2011.

European Union membership debate

European Union future possible members 2

Norway's application for EU membership has been frozen, but not withdrawn. It could be resumed at any time following renewed domestic political will. A major issue for Norway is its fishing resources, which are a significant part of the national economy and which would come under the

Common Fisheries Policy The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the fishery, fisheries policy of the European Union (EU). It sets quotas for which Member state of the European Union, member states are allowed to catch each type of fish, as well as encouraging the fishin ...

if Norway were to accede to the EU. Norway has high GNP per capita and would have to pay a high membership fee. The country has a limited amount of agriculture and few underdeveloped areas, which means that Norway would receive little economic support from the EU. However, , Norway has chosen to opt into many EU projects, and since its total financial contribution linked to the EEA agreement consists of contributions related to the participation in these projects, and a part made available to development projects for reducing social and economic disparities in the EU ( EEA and Norway Grants), its participation is on an equal footing with that of

. The total EEA EFTA commitment is 2.4% of the overall EU programme budget. Because these positions significantly cut across ideological boundaries, various political parties have dealt with the issue differently. The Centre Party has maintained the most principled stand against membership, and though parties such as the Norwegian Conservative Party and the

support membership in their platform, they allow for a minority to oppose it. Most dramatically, the Norwegian Liberal Party split over the issue in 1972 at the famed party conference in Røros and did not reunite until 1989. The EU membership issue crosses Norwegian politics's traditional left–right axis. Since the Labour Party lost its dominance in Norwegian politics, all governments have been a coalition of several political parties. Because the issue almost certainly would break up any conceivable government coalition (except perhaps a

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

of Labour and the Conservatives), no government has raised the subject, and no opposition party has stated any desire to do so either. Disagreements on this issue have created divisiveness within families and local communities. Although there is a general pattern that urban communities favour membership and rural communities do not, there have been vocal minorities in every area of Norway. Complicating the matter has been that a great variety of political and emotional factors have been raised in the debate. Opponents of EU membership on the left do so because of opposition to conservative economic and political forces that concern them within Europe; opponents on the right are concerned about an infringement on Norwegian culture; and others are opposed in principle to compromising Norwegian sovereignty. On 9 April 2022, Governing Mayor of Oslo Raymond Johansen hoped that it was the time for EU membership debate, stating, "The EU is not only our best guarantor of peace and democracy. It is also the best answer we have to many of the challenges facing Norwegian society."

Norwegian political parties' positions

Currently, parties supporting or opposing EU membership are to be found in both right-wing and left-wing coalitions: as a result, most governments contain pro- and anti-EU elements. To avoid further debates concerning EU membership, anti-EU parties usually require " suicide paragraphs" in government coalition agreements, meaning that if any party in the coalition officially begins a new debate on EU membership, the coalition government will be dissolved. This has been true for both the previous centre-right Bondevik government and the centre-left Stoltenberg government.

Opinion polling

On average, Norwegian voters oppose Norwegian membership in the European Union. The average polling results since 2022 indicate that around 55% of Norwegian voters oppose EU membership, although the most recent polling has shown this fall under 50% (see below). According to 2023 polling data, most voters remain opposed to EU membership. However, many Norwegians are changing their position on future membership due to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. This trend has continued and after both opponents and supports of Norwegian EU membership reached the same level of approximately 40%, 63% of Norwegians now say they want another referendum on EU membership. {, class="wikitable sortable tpl-blanktable mw-collapsible" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;line-height:14px;" , + , - ! rowspan="2" , Dates
conducted ! rowspan="2" , Pollster ! Support ! Opposed ! rowspan="2" , , - ! data-sort-type="number" style="background:green;", ! data-sort-type="number" style="background:#dc241f;", , - !Apr 2025 , Sentio , 33,2% , 41,8% , , - !Apr 2025 , Opinion , 41% , 48% , , - !Mar 2025 , Norstat , 37% , 43% , , - !Mar 2025 , Respons , 35% , 45% , , - !Mar 2025 , Opinion , 40% , 49% , , - ! {Date table sorting, Feb 2025 , Opinion , 33% , 53% , , - ! {Date table sorting, Nov 2024 , Opinion , 34,9% , 46,7% , , - ! {Date table sorting, Nov 2023 , Opinion , 31% , 52% , , - ! , Opinion , 35% , 54% , , - ! , Sentio , 33% , 56% , , - ! , Opinion , 31% , 53% , , - ! , Sentio , 27.2% , 55.8% , , - ! , Sentio , 35.3% , 48.8% , , - ! , Norstat , 26% , 53% , , - ! , Sentio , 28% , 60% , , - ! , Sentio , 22% , 67% , , - ! , Ipsos MMI , 16% , 66% , , - ! , Sentio , 19.6% , 70.9% , , - ! , Sentio , 18.1% , 72.0% , , - ! , Sentio , 17.8% , 70.5% , , - ! , Sentio , 18.7% , 70.8% , , - ! , Sentio , 17.2% , 74.8% , , - ! , Sentio , 18.6% , 70.8% , , - ! , Synovate , 12% , 72% , , - ! , Sentio , 20.1% , 68.8% , , - ! , Sentio , 17.1% , 73.4% , , - ! , Response , 29% , 71% , , - ! , Sentio , 22.5% , 65.9% , , - ! , Sentio , 24.9% , 64.9% , , - ! , Sentio , 26% , 62% , , - ! , Sentio , 25.3% , 66.1% , , - ! , Norstat , 25% , 66% , , - ! , Sentio , 30.3% , 56.9% , , - ! , Response , 26% , 62% , , - ! , Norstat , 32.3% , 55% , , - ! , Sentio , 36.3% , 50.1% , , - ! , Sentio , 33% , 53.4% , , - ! , Sentio , 42% , 58% , , - ! , Sentio , 41.4% , 45.6% , , - ! , Sentio , 35% , 52.2% , , - ! , Norstat , 40.6% , 50.3% , , - ! , Response , 42% , 58% , , - ! , Norstat , 38.6% , 49% , , - ! , Sentio , 34.9% , 53.3% , , - ! , Sentio , 33% , 54.9% , , - ! , Sentio , 35.1% , 54.7% , , - ! , Sentio , 32.5% , 52.8% , , - ! , Sentio , 37.5% , 50.7% , , - ! , Response , 40% , 60% , , - ! , Response , 42% , 58% , , - ! , Response , 45% , 55% , , - ! , Response , 41% , 59% , , - ! , Response , 45% , 55% , , - ! , Response , 45% , 55% , , - ! , Sentio , 36% , 51% , , - ! , Sentio , 37% , 38% ,

Norway's foreign relations with EU member states

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Diplomatic relations between Norway and EU member states

{, class="wikitable sortable" ! scope=col, Country ! scope=col , Norwegian embassy ! scope=col , Reciprocal embassy ! class="unsortable" , Notes , - , , Vienna , Oslo , Norwegian Permanent Mission to OSCE in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, - , , Brussels , Oslo , Norwegian Mission to the EU and Permanent Delegation to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, - , , Sofia , Oslo , , - , , Zagreb , Oslo , , - , , Nicosia , Oslo , , - , , Prague , Oslo , , - , , Copenhagen , Oslo , , - , , Tallinn , Oslo , , - , , Helsinki , Oslo , , - , , Paris , Oslo , Norwegian Mission to

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

and

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. and in

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, - , , Berlin
Consulate General: Hamburg
Consulate: Düsseldorf , Oslo , , - , , Athens , Oslo , , - , , Budapest , Oslo , , - , , Dublin , Oslo , , - , , Rome , Oslo , , - , , Riga , Oslo , , - , , Vilnius , Oslo , , - , , Luxembourg City , Oslo , , - , , Valletta , Oslo , , - , , The Hague
Consulate General: Rotterdam , Oslo , , - , , Warsaw , Oslo , , - , , Lisbon , Oslo , , - , , Bucharest , Oslo , , - , , Bratislava , Oslo , , - , , Ljubljana , Oslo , , - , , Madrid
Consulate General: Barcelona
Consulate: Alicante , Oslo , , - , , Stockholm , Oslo ,

References

External links

Norwegian government

Mission of Norway to the EU

NGOs related to the question of membership

www.jasiden.no
he European Movement in Norway
www.europeiskungdom.no
European Youth in Norway
www.neitileu.no
he eurosceptics
www.umeu.no
outh against the EU {{DEFAULTSORT:Norway And The European Union Politics of Norway Third-country relations of the European Union