The Nordic Countries and the European Security and Defence Policy

THE NORWEGIAN PREDICAMENT 325developing countries. Association with the EU was politically taboo from thattime until the Iron Curtain started coming down in the late 1980s.In the aftermath of the November 1994 referendum, the then NorwegianPrime Minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland, opted for intensified cooperation withthe European Union. She apparently interpreted the motive behind the ‘No’vote as instinctive support for traditional sovereignty rather than as a rejectionof extensive cooperation with the EU. Brundtland’s chosen course suggesteditself even more strongly since two of Norway’s neighbours, Finland andSweden, were to join the Union in 1995.It could be said that, whereas Finnish voters in 1994 saw both economic andsecurity benefits in becoming an EU member and Swedish voters expectedclear economic gains, the voters in Norway could see neither economic norsecurity benefits for the country or themselves in joining. What remained as themain argument in favour of Norwegian membership was the opportunity forpolitical participation: a share—albeit small—in European decision-makingprocesses. As could be expected, however, the political argument did not carrysufficient weight to sway the vote in the referendum.The free trade framework of the European Economic Area (EEA), which hadcome into effect as recently as January 1994, served as a generous fallbackoption for the Norwegian economy. 5 As originally proposed in January 1989 byJacques Delors, President of the European Commission, the EEA was to be ameans of deferring the applications of a number of potential members of theEU, thus giving the Union time to consolidate. 6 The fact that the EEA was operationalat the time of the 1994 referendum probably persuaded some Norwegianvoters that a ‘No’ vote would have few economic repercussions.Since then, the policies of all Norwegian governments, and the course ofevents in the EU and Europe in general, have led to intensified cooperation andinvolvement by Norway in EU matters. The Single Market has been developedfurther, and Norway has adopted all measures applicable to it via the EEAwithout making any veto attempts in the framework of the EEA institutions.Norway participates fully in the Schengen Agreement on the free movement ofpeople and in EU-based cooperation on research and teaching, and has becomea substantial financial contributor to the new Central European member statessince the enlargement of the EU on 1 May 2004.In addition, Norway has taken a keen interest in the EU’s Common Foreignand Security Policy and, lately, in the European Security and Defence Policy, inorder to counter a possible marginalization of NATO and of Norway’s own rolein defence cooperation in Europe.5 Agreement on the European Economic Area, EFTA Secretariat, Geneva, May 1992, URL . The members of the EEA are Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway,the EU and its member states. Austria, Finland and Sweden were members before their accession to theEU in 1995. The EEA is managed by the secretariat of the European Free Trade Area, of which Switzerlandis also a member.6 Delors, J., Speech to the European Parliament, Strasbourg, 17 Jan. 1989.