Check against delivery
Excellencies, ladies and
gentlemen,
Welcome to the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs’ European Conference 2005, which is the third of its kind.
We hope that this conference will give us more insight and an
opportunity to reflect on developments in Europe and Norway’s
response to them.
Norway’s relations with Europe are
characterised both by closeness and by distance. We Norwegians
regard ourselves as Europeans. Norway is deeply integrated in the
European economy, politics and culture, and we participate in most
of the European co-operation. However, we have twice, by majority
vote, chosen not to become members of the most important and most
dynamic organisation for European co-operation, the EU. The
Norwegian population is pretty much split down the middle when it
comes to the question of Norwegian EU membership. It is therefore
important for us now and then to take a step back to view Europe in
an overall perspective. This conference offers a good opportunity
to do so.
Although Norway has chosen to
remain outside the EU, close European co-operation is very
important for us. We are affected by decisions made in the EU every
day. We have chosen to co-operate with the EU through treaties and
agreements in a wide range of areas, and are therefore following
developments in the EU closely. Despite the fact that Norway is not
part of the EU, we attach importance to and support the significant
role played by the EU in promoting peace, security and democracy in
the whole of Europe. To some people it may seem like a paradox that
Norway is such a strong supporter of EU enlargement given that we
ourselves have chosen not to become a member. This shows that
Norway and the EU countries share many of the same values and
visions. We believe in the value of co-operating on common
challenges.
Since the EU emerged from the ruins
followingWorld War II, the vision of a united Europe has evolved
from the Coal and Steel Community to a legally, economically and
politically coherent European Union. So far 25 countries have
joined forces to establish a common economy and governance
system.
2004 was a historic year
. On 1 May, 10 new countries were admitted to the
EU. Bulgaria and Romania will become members in 2007, and the EEA
will be enlarged correspondingly. Croatia, the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia and Turkey have all applied for membership.
And Ukraine’s new president has declared that membership is a
long-term goal.
The EU, with its population of
close to half a billion from Killarney in the west to Narva and
Nicosia in the east, from Utsjoki in the north to Valetta in the
south, has common legislative, executive and judicial authorities,
an internal market, a central bank, a common currency and a rapid
reaction force of 20 000 troops, and is likely to soon have a
constitutional treaty, including a charter of fundamental
rights.
One of eight UN countries is an EU
member state. The EU generates about 20 per cent of the world’s
total GNP. The internal market is the world’s largest multinational
market. The euro has become the world’s strongest currency after
gaining 50 per cent in relation to the dollar during the three
first years of its existence. There is even a European space
agency, which has 200 satellites orbiting the Earth and which is
planning to make a European the first human being to reach
Mars.
Yet at the same time, the EU
consists of 25 sovereign states. The draft constitutional treaty
underlines that all the authority of the EU derives from the member
states and has been delegated in clearly specified areas where
joint action is in the common interest and more effective than each
country acting on its own. The fact that the EU’s common budget
only represents about one per cent of the combined GNPs of the
member states means that a great deal of power, authority and
influence still lies with the nation states.
At the same time, most of the EU
states, plus Norway and Iceland, have done away with border
controls among themselves, making it possible to drive from the
North Cape to Palermo without encountering a single border guard.
Billions of euros have been invested in linking roads and railway
lines into extensive Trans-European Networks. We, and other EEA
citizens, have the right to live, work, start businesses, study and
retire as pensioners anywhere in an area with a population of 460
million. And still retain our social security rights.
We are undoubtedly witnessing the
most extensive and profound integration process in the history of
Europe. At the practical level Norway is participating in many
fields, but at the political level Norway has little influence on
developments. The EEA Agreement, the Schengen co-operation and our
various association agreements with EU programmes and agencies
underscore the significance of our co-operation with neighbouring
countries in the EU for the safeguarding of Norwegian interests.
But as I said in my address to the Storting in February, the
co-operation within the EU is affecting Norway to an increasing
degree, while at the same time our possibility of influencing it is
diminishing as the co-operation within the EU is being widened and
deepened. This is quite a paradox, and something we have to take on
board.
Outside the EU Norway is seeking to
pursue a European policy that is as active as possible. Large
resources are being dedicated to the efforts to promote Norwegian
views and interests in EU capitals and in Brussels. The government
has established a European Portal on the Internet (
www.europaportalen.no). Our work on
EEA-related matters has been considerably intensified, in keeping
with the European political platform of the coalition government. A
well-functioning EEA Agreement is crucial to Norway.
The efforts to consolidate the
common European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) are continuing,
in line with the EU’s political goals. The EU wishes to take on
greater responsibility in international issues. Over time this will
lead to a more equal burden-sharing between Europe and the USA.
Such a development will benefit us on both sides of the
Atlantic.
For this reason Norway actively
supports the common European Security and Defence Policy, both
politically and in the form of tangible contributions to
international organisations. For example, Norway is participating
in the military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which the EU
took over from NATO in December. This is by far the EU’s largest
military operation to date. We will co-operate with the new
European Defence Agency and contribute to the EU’s new Rapid
Reaction Force in co-operation with other Nordic countries. At the
same time, we want to underline that the European crisis management
capacity must be co-ordinated with NATO’s efforts. For Norway, NATO
is the cornerstone of the transatlantic community of shared values
and security interests.
During his recent visit to Europe,
President Bush made it clear that that the USA is interested in
close transatlantic co-operation. The visit also showed that the
USA wishes to intensify its co-operation with the EU in the time to
come. But the transatlantic dialogue may to an increasing extent be
conducted directly between the EU and the USA. It is important to
us that NATO continues to be used and is strengthened as a
framework for transatlantic deliberations on broader security
policy issues.
Chancellor Schröder’s statement
that NATO “no longer is the prime forum where the transatlantic
partners discuss and co-ordinate their strategies” poses questions
– and raises serious concern in Norway. Some have been reassured by
the fact that the statement did not seem to have any particular
impact on the NATO summit. But the issue raised by the German
Chancellor is not a new one. We have already for some time seen a
tendency for the USA and the EU to resolve important foreign and
security policy matters directly between themselves. This could
weaken NATO and marginalise us even further. A situation where
important issues in the transatlantic dialogue are discussed
directly between the USA and the EU would clearly pose major
challenges to Norway.
The most important issue on the
EU’s internal agenda this year and next is the draft constitutional
treaty. Norway’s position on the treaty is straightforward: It
concerns how the EU wants to organise its own affairs, and is thus
none of Norway’s business. But at the same time, our basic view is
that the EU is a positive force in Europe and the world at large.
In my opinion the constitutional treaty will, if it enters into
force, lead to democratisation and increased effectiveness, as well
as to a number of other improvements in the EU. But it will also
create specific challenges for Norway. It will not become easier to
promote Norwegian interests and views as the EU becomes larger and
develops more effective decision-making procedures.
Norway and the EU have strong ties
in the economic field, primarily through the EEA Agreement, which
secures equal access to the EU internal market for Norwegian
companies. Norway is in fact the EU’s sixth largest trading
partner. Only the USA, China, Switzerland, Russia and Japan have
more trade with the EU. Norway’s trade in goods and services with
the EU amounts to more than NOK 800 billion per year. This
represents a value that corresponds to almost half of our GNP.
But we are important to the EU in
other ways as well, not least when it comes to energy resources.
Two thirds of Norway’s oil production goes to the EU market,
accounting for 15 per cent of the EU countries’ consumption. In
2003 about 690 million barrels of oil were exported from Norway to
the EU. Norwegian gas accounts for 15 per cent of the total gas
consumption in the EU. We are the most reliable supplier of such
energy to the EU.
On top of this come our fish
exports. Yearly exports to the EU of salmon alone are worth NOK 7-8
billion. Unfortunately, we are currently compelled to fight EU
import restrictions that we consider clearly unjustified. The Prime
Minister, the Minister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs and I have
repeatedly taken up this serious matter with the EU member states
and with the European Commission. Now that the safeguard measures
have been imposed, we have no alternative but to submit the case to
the WTO. The salmon issue shows that Norway is still facing
considerable economic challenges in its relations with the EU, in
spite of the EEA Agreement.
Norway has taken a significant
share of responsibility for common European interests. Through the
new EEA financial mechanisms, Norway provides nearly NOK 2 billion
a year to support social and economic development, mainly to the
new EU member states around the Baltic Sea (Poland and the Baltic
states). Proportionally, this transfer of funds to new member
states is larger than what most of the “old” EU states are
contributing. We are seeking to make some of these funds available
to Ukraine through cross-border regional co-operation in accordance
with the EU’s European Neighbourhood Policy. The new Ukraine is
turning towards Europe and deserves our support.
Substantial Norwegian funds are
also being used to prepare the Western Balkan countries for EU
membership in the future. This year we are granting NOK 750 million
support political, economic, and social development in the Balkan
states. In addition NOK 271 million has been earmarked for measures
to promote peace, reconciliation and democracy in Moldova, the
Caucasus and Central Asia. The goal is that these regions, too,
should turn towards Europe.
In addition Norway is making
considerable efforts for the benefit of Europe in northwestern
Russia, where we are spending more than NOK 200 million a year to
support democratic and sustainable development. Through the Barents
and the Baltic Sea co-operation and bilateral co-operation with the
EU and EU member states, we wish to promote the further integration
of Russia into European co-operation. In our efforts to achieve a
greater European focus on many of the challenges and opportunities
in Europe’s high north, the European Commission is an important
partner, and the EU’s Northern Dimension initiative, an important
tool.
The EU is the only organisation for
European co-operation of which Norway is not a member. But
precisely the EU is the most dynamic and the fastest growing of
these organisations and the one that to the greatest extent sets
terms for Norwegian policy. This paradox must continue to be a
topic of debate, regardless of the political constellation in
government. I fully agree with the Prime Minister’s observation in
his New Year’s speech, where he said that “Europe and the EU are
quite different today from what they were when we took a position
on Norwegian membership in 1994”. He pointed out that the EU is no
longer a western, but a pan-European organisation. When we once
again, at some point in the future, have to take a position on
Norwegian EU membership, we must all take this new situation into
account, regardless of our basic standpoint.
I hope this conference will help to
stimulate an active and open-minded debate on Europe.
I wish you every success with the
conference.
