Norway
After Brexit, is Nexit next? A party that wants to pull Norway out of the EU Single Market is doing well in the polls BY VINCE MCDONAGH
W
hen Norwegians go to the polls to elect a new government next month, a group of business leaders will be wai�ng nervously for the result. They are the country’s fish farmers who fear a change of government could have a profound impact on their finances and on the way they operate in future. Aquaculture has been a phenomenal success story for this country of fewer than six million people. In less than 50 years it has grown from scratch to become the world’s largest salmon farmer, expor�ng more than a million tonnes worth NOK 70.1 bn (£6.1bn) last year and providing secure employment for dozens of coastal communi�es. But not everyone is cheering. Norway is home to a strong environmental lobby which would like to end open net farming and poli�cal par�es, mainly on the le�, which believe that aquaculture companies have been making handsome profits and should be paying more in tax. The elec�on is scheduled for Thursday, 13 September with Labour strongly �pped to win back control from Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s Conserva�ve-led coali�on a�er an eight year absence. Norway’s propor�onal representa�on system means there is rarely an outright winner, so if Labour does well, it will probably need support from other le�-leaning par�es. This is where it becomes interes�ng for poli�cal pundits, but deeply
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Norway and the EU - Vince.indd 50
Above: Erna Solberg Opposite from top:
Jonas Gahr Store; Trygve Slagsvold Vedum; Geir Ystmark
disturbing for the salmon companies. The more immediate threat to the industry doesn’t come from the le�, however, but from the euro-scep�c Centre or SP party whose popularity has been rising sharply in the polls. It is a strong supporter of farmers, fishermen, food producers and local communi�es. Led by the experienced Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, SP believes Norway made a mistake in joining the European Union. The party has been clear that it would like to see the country renego�ate membership of the European Economic Area (EEA) – and broadly follow the UK’s Brexit policy of going it alone. Norway, while not a full EU member state, is a member of the European single market. This means it has to follow many of Brussels’ rules, a situa�on which does not go down well with a sizeable sec�on of the popula�on. The Centre Party’s poli�cal stance has been hard to define having supported both right and
www.fishfarmermagazine.com
09/08/2021 15:06:51
