Norway’s Government Collapse: What Led to the Political Crisis and What’s Next?

Last month Norway’s government collapsed. So what happened?

For some background, Norway is an incredibly wealthy nation with humongous amounts of oil. It is not a member of the European Union (EU), but it is a part of the European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA and Norway’s participation in the agreement allows the country to be a part of the single/internal market that other EU countries operate within. The EEA is crucial for Norway as 80% of the country's exports go to the EU. 

That being said, many Norwegians have an overwhelmingly negative view of the EU. In January, Jonas Gahr Støre, Norway’s Prime Minister and member of the Labour Party, wanted to implement three EU energy directives. This did not go over well with his coalition group the Centre Party who hold primarily Eurosceptic beliefs. They were so against implementing these three directives that they essentially quit the government. Støre lost eight of his cabinet members with the separation, leaving roles like the minister of defense, justice, and finance vacant. The Centre Party holds a strong belief that cooperation with the EU threatens Norway's autonomy. Furthermore, the Party's resignation leaves large gaps in Norway’s governmental framework and the Labour Party will now govern until elections are held again in September. 

So what does the Norwegian Labour Party stand for? 

The Norwegian Labour Party is the largest political party in Norway and is much more open to cooperation with the European Union. They believe in the prioritization of EU-Norway relations as they fear that a trade war between Europe and the US is on the horizon. Also, renewable energy sources are something that the party advocated for making the three EU energy directives something the Labour Party supports. 

Despite being the new governing power and potential for change, it is unclear whether or not the Labour party will be able to take much political action in the coming months. On one hand, the Labour Party does not have the majority in parliament and also does not take the lead in opinion polls compared to its right-wing counterparts. On the other hand though, since the exit of the Centre party, voter support for the Labour Party is the highest compared to the other 10 other parties represented in parliament.

Norway’s political uncertainty has the potential to bring about new change and different approaches to cooperation with the European Union, something that has not been deeply explored in quite some time.