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– We have had to work hard to get the government involved in this, but it was a very important point for us, said parliamentary representative Christian Tybring-Gjedde in a press release.
The agreement has been reached in connection with the negotiations in the Storting on the new long-term plan of the Armed Forces.
Norwegian politicians, diplomats and lobbyists have long pushed for Norwegian companies to have access to the new honey pot, which is worth € 7 billion for the period 2021-2027. And they succeeded. In June 2018, the EU Commission decided to open the new fund for the EEA countries Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
It was described as a major diplomatic victory for Norway. But earlier this fall, the government concluded that Norway shouldn’t join the fund anyway.
“Through a general assessment of Norwegian participation in EU programs, the government has not found room to participate in EDF,” the Defense Ministry wrote in the draft state budget for 2021.
A reservation was made that the decision was not final.
At the current exchange rate, participation in the fund, as calculated by NTB, will make a contribution of almost NOK 2 billion over the next seven years.
