A majority in parliament are opposed to EU membership

women in ParliamentThe Norwegian Parliament(Stortinget).Photo: Norway Today Media

According to a ‘No to the EU’ survey, the majority of the newly elected members of parliament oppose Norwegian membership of the EU

 

No to the EU conducted a survey among the top candidates on the political party lists, reported Nationen newspaper.

84 MPs replied to the question, ‘Do you think Norway will become a member of the EU?’ 38 said ‘yes’, 12 were unsure, and 35 MPs gave no reply. Therefore, ‘No to the EU’ concluded that the majority of the 169 representatives are EU opponents.

‘We are excited that we finally have a survey that reflects what the people think,’ said No to the EU leader, Kathrine Kleveland. The interest group has measured parliamentary representatives’ views on the EU regularly since 1994. This is the first time that there’s been a majority opposed to joining the EU in Parliament.

The leader of the European Movement, Jan Erik Grindheim, said he is ‘very disappointed’.

‘It’s very sad, because the EU is needed more than ever. Nationalism is on the rise, and if everyone were against the EU, there’d not be peace in Europe’, he said.

Among the MPs, a clear majority were against a referendum on the EEA agreement. The majority also prefer the EEA instead of a bilateral trade agreement, but the majority there was somewhat smaller than during the previous parliamentary elections. The majority also want Norway to use the right to veto in the EEA more actively.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today