“We have this summer to reach a critical mass regarding the EU question,” said Trine Lise Sundnes, a Labor lawmaker and chair of the pro-EU European Movement — an association campaigning for Norway to join the bloc for 80 years now. Letting her gaze sweep across the restaurant, she added: “If we want to achieve that, we need every single one of you.”
Norway and Iceland enjoy a similar relationship with the bloc: Deeply integrated into the single market but without full membership — a position many of its citizens are happy with. But if Reykjavik were to pivot toward Brussels, it would not only affect established institutions and trade frameworks, it would leave Oslo much more isolated in its position than before. Norway’s pro-EU camp thinks this will provide a rare window of opportunity.
“If Iceland votes yes, it will also trigger a discussion in Norway about whether we should join,” said Sundnes in an interview with WELT — which, like POLITICO, is part of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network. “We must be ready.”
A different union
Norwegians have voted on accession twice before; both times, a narrow majority was against it. But much has changed since the last referendum was held more than 30 years ago. “The EU we discussed in 1994 no longer exists,” said Sundes.
A member of the European Economic Area (EEA), the Schengen Area and party to more than 100 bilateral agreements, Norway is already closely intertwined with the bloc in terms of economic policy. It pays hundreds of millions of euros in fees and contributions every year.
Recently, the bloc has become an important actor in other policy areas too, in response to crises like the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.