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Norway

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Last reviewed: 17 December 2007

Country information

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Norway has held two referenda on EU membership. In 1972, 53.5% voted against and in 1994 52.2% said no. Current opinion polls show a lead of around 10% for those who wish to remain outside the EU. Given differences of opinion, the three coalition partners have a pact not to raise the question of EU membership before the next general election. Norway does, however, participate in the EU's Single Market through the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement. As an EEA Member, Norway implements EU Directives on trade and economic matters, and contributes financially to the EU’s structural and cohesion funds, but remains outside the Common Agriculture and Fisheries Policies. Norway also takes part in police, judicial, visa and frontier co-operation through the Schengen Convention and is active in the Council of Europe and Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The Berlin Plus arrangements enable non-EU members to participate in European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) operations and Norway contributes 13 troops to the EU Bosnia mission under Berlin Plus. On 4 December 2004, the Storting voted to contribute Norwegian troops to an EU Battlegroup with Sweden and Finland, drawing on UK based headquarters support.

Together with fellow Nordics, Norway has been an energetic supporter of UN reform, (Prime Minister Stoltenberg co-chaired the High Level Panel on System Wide Coherence with Prime Minister Gordon Brown (in his previous role as the Chancellor of the Exchequer), and was a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2001-2002. Home of the Nobel Peace Prize, conflict prevention/resolution is high on the foreign policy agenda. Norway’s international profile was significantly boosted in 1993 as a result of its pivotal role brokering the Middle East Peace Agreement (the Oslo Accords). Norway’s discreet peace-facilitator role continues in the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Colombia and the Sudan. Alongside conflict prevention/resolution efforts, key policy priorities include sustainable development, human rights, and promoting 'international good citizenship'. Norway’s overseas aid budget was 0.97% of GNP in 2006, with half targeted at Africa. Environmental issues are important too: climate change is high on the agenda as is international engagement over nuclear clean-up on the Kola peninsula in north- west Russia.

Stoltenberg’s government has continued the main lines of Norwegian foreign policy, including active membership of NATO and adherence to the EEA agreement. It will not join the EU - although the Labour Party is in favour of membership, its two coalition partners are opposed. In addition the government’s priorities include strengthening the UN, contributing to peace support, disarmament, and increased development aid. Relations with its near neighbours in the "High North" (i.e. the Barents / Arctic Region) are a main strategic priority and in particular the need to tackle illegal fishing and co-operate with Russia and others over future oil and gas extraction. As a State Party to the 1920 Spitzbergen Treaty, and with strong interests in energy security and tackling climate change, the UK has an interest in co-operating with Norway to develop the region in a sustainable and equitable manner.

Over the last 50 years there has been a strong tradition of Norwegian peacekeeping and it is estimated that nearly 1% of Norwegian police are involved in international operations. At present Norway has around 700 troops in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Norway has also provided forces to international operations in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina and, until July 2004, 140 members of the Telemark engineering battalion worked with British forces in Basra. Iraqi officers are also being trained at the NATO Joint Warfare Centre in Norway.

The government has withdrawn all military personnel from Iraq, and has also withdrawn from the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. From now on it will set a "high threshold" for the use of military force.

Norway's relations with the UK

Bilateral relations are close and strong, reflecting long-standing trading links, geographical proximity, ties between respective Royal families, connections forged during the Second World War, continuing shared security concerns, and many cultural affinities (e.g. theatre, shopping and, not least, football). Over 3,000 Norwegians study in the UK. Bilateral military contacts remain close with low flying practice and hundreds of UK service personnel involved in annual regular winter training/exercising in Norway; British troops make up about half of all allied training in Norway.

There are frequent Ministerial exchanges. In October 2006, the then Prime Minister Tony Blair and Prime Minister Stoltenberg met in London to open the 1200 km Langeled Gas pipeline between Nyhamna in Norway and Easington in East Yorkshire. HM The Queen paid a State Visit to Norway from 30 May to 1 June 2001 (in return for the 1994 State Visit to the UK by HM King Harald V). King Harald and Queen Sonja, accompanied by Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit paid a visit to the UK on 25-27 October 2005 to mark the Centenary of Norway's independence from Sweden.

The UK and Norway share a common interest in ensuring the good management and commercial development of their respective petroleum resources. In April 2005, the Norwegian and UK Energy Ministers signed a new Framework Treaty for regulating a wide range of potential cross boundary oil and gas projects, including pipelines. The agreement paves the way for fulfilling up to a fifth of the UK’s annual gas demand and would cover a fifth of Norway’s annual gas production. The Langeled pipeline, opened by the two Prime Ministers in October 2006 was the world’s longest underwater pipeline on opening and can supply up to 16% of the UK’s peak winter demand for natural gas.

There is also close co-operation on a new technology that has been hailed by some as a potentially significant tool in reducing climate change. Carbon capture and storage involves pumping carbon dioxide from power stations out to oil and gas fields, where it is used to enhance recovery rates. The fields are then closed and the carbon dioxide remains under the seabed. The British Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks, and his counterpart Odd Roger Enoksen, signed an agreement in November 2005 on co-operation in this area. Carbon capture and storage was also discussed when Prime Minister Gordon Brown (then Chancellor of the Exchequer) met Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in June 2006.

Although bilateral relations are strong, there have been a small number of areas where there have been differences in policy. The most contentious recent bilateral issue between the UK (and EU) and Norway involves EU trade defence measures imposed on imports of Norwegian farmed salmon at the request of the UK (and to a lesser extent Ireland). This arouses strong feelings on both sides. The Scottish producers of farmed salmon are angry that their livelihoods are being endangered by Norwegian imports to the EU at low prices that they claim to be unfairly below the cost of production. The Norwegian producers dispute the EU Commission’s figures and claim the EU measures breach WTO rules. The views of other member states are influenced by a variety of producer, consumer and fish-processing interests. The case has been referred to the WTO.

The UK is a strong opponent of all forms of commercial whaling. Although both the UK and Norway are members of the International Whaling Commission, Norway has lodged an objection to the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling and continues to set its own quotas each year (1052 minke whales in 2006). Britain opposes in the IWC but accepts that the objection Norway lodged allows them to continue whaling legally. The discharge of the radioactive chemical TC-99 from the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site was a contentious issue. The UK introduced in 2004 a new process to clean the discharge stream and remove the majority of the TC-99 from the waste, but the Norwegians remain concerned about the site.

Diplomatic Representation

UK Ambassador to Norway: H.E. Mr David Powell
Norwegian Ambassador to the UK: H.E. Mr Bjarne Lindstrøm

Cultural Relations with the UK

British Council: Norway

Significant Recent Visits

Inward to the UK

  • Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in London to meet the Foreign Secretary 8 June 2006.
  • Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Prime Minister Tony Blair officially opened the Langeled Pipeline in London, 16 October 2006.
  • State Secretary Liv Stubholt met Minister for Europe Geoff Hoon, 19 October 2006.
  • Crown Princess Mette-Marit switched on the lights on the traditional Trafalgar Square Christmas tree given by the city of Oslo to the city of Westminster, 7 December 2006.
  • Defence Minister Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen met Defence Minister Des Browne, 16 May 2007.
  • Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg met the Prime Minister, 5 September 2007.
  • State Secretary Elisabeth Walaas visited London for talks with Europe Minister Jim Murphy, DfID Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Gareth Thomas and Minister of State for Competitiveness Stephen Timms, 28 November 2007.
  • Minister for Environment and International Development Erik Solheim met Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander and Minister of State for Environment Phil Woolas, 4 December 2007.
  • Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg met the Prime Minister, 6 December 2007.
  • Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre met the Foreign Secretary, 11 December 2007.

Outward to Norway

  • Malcolm Wicks, Energy Minister, 1-3 February 2006.
  • Paymaster General, Dawn Primarolo visited Oslo for talks on North Sea oil and gas taxation, 8-9 March 2006.
  • Scottish Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen visited Oslo for talks on renewable energy, 26-27 July 2006.
  • Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown visited Oslo for the final meeting of the UN High Level Panel on System Wide Coherence which he co-chaired with Prime Minister Stoltenberg, 31 August 2006.
  • Gareth Thomas, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in DfID visited Oslo for a conference on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, 17 October 2006.
  • Lord Truscott from the Department of Trade and Industry visited Oslo for discussions on energy, 14 February 2007.
  • Stephen Timms, Minister of State for Competitiveness, attended the opening of the Ormen Lange gas field, 6 October 2007.

In addition to the visits listed above, British and Norwegian Ministers, State Secretaries and officials from a wide range of Government Departments meet frequently to exchange views on diverse issues.

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General Information

British-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce
c/o Postbooks 925 Sentrum
0104 Oslo
Tel: +47 22 41 85 50
Fax: +47 22 41 85 45
E-mail: mail@crestfielv.org

Anglo-Norse Society
c/o British Embassy (in Norway)
or
c/o Norwegian Embassy (in UK)

Scottish Norwegian Society
36 Randolph Road
Glasgow G11 7LG
Tel: 0141 334 2260
e-mail: grakar@bt.internet.com   

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