Why is Norway not part of the European Union?
The European Union (EU) currently consists of 27 member states. Norway is not among them, which makes it one of the few Western European countries that do not belong to the international organization. How did this anomalous situation come about?
History
The EU evolved out of the European Coal and Steel Community, founded in 1951 with six original member states. This was eventually transformed into the European Economic Community (EEC) and, later, the European Community (EC). Today’s European Union was officially created by the Maastricht Treaty in 1993; at that time it had 12 members. An alternative trading bloc, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), was set up in 1960 with Norway as one of its founding members. EFTA’s purpose was to safeguard the commercial policies of its member nations. The founding countries of EFTA wanted to avoid being drawn into the political integration gradually occurring within the EU’s predecessor organizations and to protect themselves from any disadvantages in trade caused by such integration.
Norwegians showed occasional interest in joining the EEC. In the 1960s Norway, with fellow EFTA member the United Kingdom, entered into negotiations for EEC membership. Those negotiations foundered in 1963 and 1967 because French president Charles de Gaulle, seeing potential British membership as a threat to France’s power within the EEC, vetoed the UK’s application (which also nullified Norway’s application). Norway reactivated its application in 1969 and finalized its conditions for acceptance, but in 1972 Norwegian voters rejected EEC membership in a referendum, with a majority of 53.5 percent. Norway joined the European Economic Area (EEA) in 1994, a step that gave it access to the EU’s single market without being part of the EU. However, when a second referendum on EU membership was held that year, Norwegians again rejected it, with 52 percent voting no.
" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">
Reasons and interests
Many Norwegians fear that EU membership will erode the country’s autonomy and harm its economy. Norway’s most important economic sectors are oil and fisheries. Entering the EU would require Norway to adhere to the bloc’s Common Fisheries Policy. This would require negotiation of fishing quotas at the EU level and allow foreign vessels to access Norwegian fishing grounds. Norway’s oil industry provides half of the country’s export revenue; it is also the source of its sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world. The EU’s current stance against Arctic oil and gas drilling is opposed by Norway. The Norwegians also want to maintain control over their existing oil and gas supplies, which gives them considerable leverage in negotiations with the EU, their leading customer of oil and gas exports.
Nonetheless, the question of Norway’s membership remains a live issue. External circumstances affecting the country’s relations with the bloc play a large part. In 2026 Norwegian foreign minister Espen Barth Eide cited international instability (in his words, the shift from “a benign world” to “a crazy world”) as a reason to seek security as part of the EU.