Adjustment Strategy of a Non-Member

Abstract

This article discusses the position of Norway in Europe after once again rejecting membership in the European Union. With Swedish and Finnish membership, most of the Nordic countries are now members of the Union. The author portrays Norway's policy after the referendum as one of eager adaptation to the EU. Although membership was rejected by a majority in the referendum of 28 November 1994, there is today a broad political consensus supporting the policy of adaptation adopted by the Government, be it in matters relating to economic policy, security policy, or the justice/home affairs pillars of the Union. The ad hoc alliance built up to reject membership is now deeply split over the policies of Norway as a non-member, leaving the handling of Norway's European policies to the side that lost the referendum. Looking back on the Norwegian debate about Europe leading up to the referendum, some predictions are made about the way Norwegians will relate to the EU in the future. The debate leading to the referendum on EU membership can be seen as an illustration of a split between the approaches of the state and the Nation to the question of what Norway is and what its relationship to the external world should be. This division can again be activated, and the tensions between the two approaches will contribute to the construction of Norway's European policy also in the future.