Since the 1960s the question of Norway’s relations with the EEC—and, from 1993, with its successor, the European Union (EU)—has split the country’s citizenry across traditional party lines and even within families. A member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) from its formal inception in 1960, Norway decided to follow the lead of fellow EFTA member Great Britain from 1961 by entering into negotiations for membership in the EEC. These initiatives were thwarted in 1963 and 1967 by the strong opposition of French president Charles de Gaulle. Norwegian orientation toward the EEC was suspended until 1969, when the country again followed Britain’s lead (along with Ireland and EFTA member Denmark) in applying for EEC membership. All four were accepted, but in 1972 Norwegian voters defeated the referendum on membership by more than 53 percent; the other three nations joined the organization in 1973.
For some 10 years thereafter Norway joined the remaining EFTA countries in signing a variety of free-trade agreements with members of the EEC that, though they were bilateral, incorporated the economic liberalism of the EEC. Negotiations begun in 1989 between the two organizations culminated in 1991 in an agreement to form a free-trade zone called the European Economic Area (EEA). Norway became a member of the EEA when it came into effect in 1994.
Meanwhile, the dissolution of the communist governments of the Soviet bloc countries of central and eastern Europe and the breakup of the Soviet Union itself in 1989–91 changed the European political scene as well as the plans inherent in the inauguration of the EEA. EFTA members Austria, Finland, and Sweden suddenly felt politically free to apply for full membership in what soon would become the EU. Norway followed suit, applying for membership in November 1992. In a national referendum in November 1994, however, the Norwegian electorate again rejected the treaty negotiated by the government, albeit by a slightly smaller margin than in 1972.
It may seem contradictory that Norway has continued to reject EU membership. Norway, as a founding member of NATO, has been solidly integrated into Western security politics since 1949. The export of petroleum and natural gas from the North Sea has greatly strengthened Norway’s economy and has more fully integrated it into the global economy. Nonetheless, the movement toward European political, monetary, and military unity that found expression in the Maastricht Treaty and establishment of the EU reminded too many Norwegians of the unions in their past that had subjugated Norway for more than half a millennium. The proponents of EU membership could not convince the opponents that Norway had obtained favourable concessions in its negotiations with the EU regarding fisheries, agriculture, and the exploitation of petroleum and natural gas. Moreover, the opponents were fearful that Norway would once more lose its national independence. Thus, at the beginning of the 21st century Norway found itself in a much-diminished EFTA (with Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland) but, through its affiliation with the EEA, strongly tied economically to the EU. Gudmund Sandvik
Citation Information
Article Title: Norway
Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published: 16 August 2019
URL: https://www.britannica.com/place/Norway
Access Date: August 21, 2019
Additional Reading General works
Magne Helvig and Viggo Johannessen, Norway: Land, People, Industries, 4th ed. (1974), provides a concise but informative introduction. A more comprehensive survey is found in Ronald G. Popperwell, Norway (1972). The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten publishes a guidebook, Facts About Norway, 23rd ed. (1993). Other guides include Erling Welle-Strand, Tourist in Norway, 6th ed. (1980); Gunnar Jerman, New Norway 8, trans. from Norwegian by Rolf Gooderham (1993); and Arvid Bryne and Joan Henriksen, Norway, Behind the Scenery (1986).
Current writings on the country’s development, history, economics, and culture are found in the periodicals Norwegian Archaeological Review (semiannual); Scandinavian Journal of History (quarterly); Acta Borealia (semiannual); and The Scandinavian Economic History Review (3/yr.). Leland B. Sather (compiler), Norway, ed. by Hans H. Wellisch (1986), is an annotated bibliography of works in English. The economy, administration, and social conditions
Arne Selbyg, Norway Today (1986), presents a brief overview of Norwegian society; whereas Natalie Rogoff Ramsøy (ed.), Norwegian Society (1973; originally published in Norwegian, 1968), is a comprehensive survey. Special studies include Ian Whitaker, Social Relations in a Nomadic Lappish Community (1955); Robert Paine, Coast Lapp Society, 2 vol. (1957–65); Jon Leirfall, Old Times in Norway, trans. from Norwegian (1986); and Tove Stang Dahl, Child Welfare and Social Defence (1985; originally published in Norwegian, 1978). Political developments are surveyed in Henry Valen and Daniel Katz, Political Parties in Norway (1964); William M. Lafferty, Participation and Democracy in Norway (1981); and Johan Jørgen Holst (ed.), Norwegian Foreign Policy in the 1980s (1985). Economic history is traced in Thorvald Moe, Demographic Developments and Economic Growth in Norway, 1740–1940 (1977); Alan S. Milward, The Fascist Economy in Norway (1972); and Fritz Hodne, An Economic History of Norway, 1815–1970 (1975). Modern economic conditions are examined in Fritz Hodne, The Norwegian Economy, 1920–1980 (1983); John C. Ausland, Norway, Oil, and Foreign Policy (1979); and Walter Galenson, A Welfare State Strikes Oiclass="underline" The Norwegian Experience (1986). Culture
Gabriel Turville-Petre, Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia (1964, reprinted 1975), deals with pre-Christian religious beliefs. Translations of the original sagas and of Old Norse poetry include The Poetic Edda, ed. and trans. by Ursula Dronke, 2 vol. (1969–97); and Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda, trans. from Icelandic by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur (1916, reissued 1967), and The Heimskringla: A History of the Norse Kings, 3 vol., trans. from Icelandic by Samuel Laing, ed. by Rasmus B. Anderson (1964–68). The historical development of the Norwegian language is explored in Einar Haugen, Language Conflict and Language Planning: The Case of Modern Norwegian (1966); and Karen A. Larson, Learning Without Lessons: Socialization and Language Change in Norway (1985). The arts are discussed in Janice S. Stewart, The Folk Arts of Norway, 2nd enlarged ed. (1972); Kristian Lange, Norwegian Music, 2nd rev. ed. (1982); Jan Askeland, Norwegian Painting (1971), and Norwegian Printmakers: A Hundred Years of Graphic Arts, trans. from Norwegian (1978); Øistein Parmann, Norwegian Sculpture (1969); Christian Norberg-Schulz, Modern Norwegian Architecture (1986); and Harald Beyer, A History of Norwegian Literature, trans. and ed. by Einar Haugen (1956, reissued 1979; originally published in Norwegian, 1952). Sverre Mortensen and Per Vogt (eds.), One Hundred Norwegians: An Introduction to Norwegian Culture and Achievement (1955), is a collection of biographies. A main biographical source for history and culture is Edvard Bull et al. (eds.), Norsk biografisk leksikon, 19 vol. (1923–83). Jan Christensen History