Dilys's question: Why isn't Norway in the EU?

One of my former students, Dilys, asked me in a recent comment why Norway isn't in the EU. That's a fair question and I thought I'd answer it for her as well as any of my other US readers who might be interested.

Norway is part of the European Economic Area and its free market but voted against joining the EU twice in national referenda in 1972 and 1994. Without going into great detail, being part of the EEA and other agreements helps Norway cooperate closely with its European neighbors without all the financial responsibilities of EU membership. Norway does contribute to the EU budget but not at the level that would be required with full membership; in return they are consulted on EU matters but have no voting rights in the European Parliament.

There are two reasons for this:
First, Norway has always prided itself on its independence, and if Norway joined the EU it would have to cede a lot of autonomy to a Parliament in which it would have little voice (about 1% of the total population).
Secondly there's OIL in these here hills. Lots of it. (Actually not in the hills, but in the North Sea off the coast.) With a population of only 4.6 million people Norway is the #3 exporter of oil in the world after Saudi Arabia and Russia. They don't call it "black gold" for nothing. The oil bounty helps fund a budget surplus of around 18% annually. (No other developed country has a surplus higher than 3% this year, and most, like the US and Japan, run a deficit of around 2-3%, if that gives you any idea.) Norway has so much oil money that the oil money has to be invested abroad or it would overwhelm the national economy; today it amounts to over $70K per Norwegian and is growing every year. With all this money they have constructed a social net that takes care of their citizens from cradle to grave, with benefits ranging from over a year of paid parental leave upon the birth of a child (to be shared between the parents) to first-rate national health care.

So Norway won't join the EU for the same reason that you don't see Rockefellers and Carnegies converting to communism. If you've got all the money, why join up with 20+ less fortunate countries in a system that takes all the money from you that you can afford to give while giving back only what you need, i.e. nothing?

Consider this: Ireland was one of the poorest EU members when it joined. When we were there in the summer of 2000, it was like the entire country was a construction project -- roads, buildings, everything in sight was being improved -- and each project had a big sign out front saying that "this project was paid for by the EU." Ireland reaped some great benefits from EU membership that helped propel its economy into the 21st century. Now they call Ireland's the "Celtic Tiger" economy, and it's good that Ireland can stand on its two feet since with Bulgaria and other former communist states joining the union, Ireland isn't going to see any of the largesse of the EU budget again anytime soon.

This is not to imply in any way that Norwegians aren't a generous people. Far from it. I wrote about their overwhelming public and private commitment to giving to the less fortunate in an earlier post. But who would pay so dearly to give up their autonomy and exclusive rights to their oil fields?

Iceland, incidentally, is another wealthy EU non-member for similar reasons. I did some work at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik some years back and our group met with some legislators at the national assembly. We talked for an hour about the EU issue and what it boiled down to was that the Icelanders don't want to share their fish. They actually had a "cod war" back in the seventies with Great Britain defending the waters where they asserted their exclusive fishing rights and, yes, shots were fired at some British fishing boats that crossed over the line. Warning shots, but shots nonetheless. If you've got a golden goose, you guard it. By force if necessary.

So, anyway, there's my two cents on Norway's non-membership in the EU. There are a number of Norwegians, particularly in the Oslo area, who try to raise the issue of EU membership now and again, but the margin of defeat in 1994 was wider than it was in 1972, and there doesn't look to be another referendum in the near future.

Hope that helps, Dilys. Keep knockin' em dead in Palo Alto.