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– This is very serious. It doesn’t seem like Jonas Gahr Støre has the weight that Stoltenberg had to be clear that there are some things that are not touched, says worried Guri Melby as she finds herself in bad weather beyond the Opera in central Oslo.
Dagbladet wrote on Monday that Fellesforbundet’s proposal to study room for maneuver and alternatives to the EEA deal has been presented to the LO congress this spring.
Therefore, LO is likely to become a majority to study alternatives to Norway’s most important trade deal. Both the Center Party and SV oppose the EEA agreement and enthusiastically welcome the support of the trade union movement.
Labor Party leader Jonas Gahr Støre will not yet clarify whether he and the Labor Party will support a study of alternatives to the EEA deal.
– The Labor Party does not need to study alternatives to the EEA agreement, an agreement that we are very much in favor of. We believe that it is possible to get rid of social dumping and actors challenging Norwegian wages and working conditions within the EEA agreement. Therefore, it is not our policy to take the initiative to study alternatives to this. We are not taking a position on such a report now, says Støre.
EEA headache for the Labor Party
Støre clarification required
Melby believes that Støre’s line will unleash the left’s EEA opponents in the future.
– When you go to study alternatives to the EEA agreement, you are on a “slippery slope” when you must start the government’s cooperation with the parties that have programmed the EEA opposition. The EEA deal hangs in the balance with Støre as prime minister, says Melby.
– Is the EEA agreement hanging by a thread with Støre as prime minister?
– Yes.
– Do you believe it or are you just scaring now?
– I’m afraid, yes. I want to challenge Støre again. What will be the result of a government with the Labor Party, the Socialist People’s Party and the Socialist People’s Party where two parties have said no to the EEA and one has said yes?
– Støre has certainly not clarified whether the EEA agreement is protected by a change of government. Therefore, it is the opposite of Stoltenberg. The EEA agreement is on the negotiating table when he agrees with the Center Party and SV. He served them a gift package, says Melby.
Støre guarantees the EEA
We called Jonas Gahr Støre and asked.
As Prime Minister, are you a guarantor that Norway will remain a member of the EEA?
With the Labor Party in government, Norway remains a member of the EEA. Point. We have said this before and we are doing it now. It’s good for Norwegian workplaces, good for Norwegian traveling, students, research, and our involvement in the European community. Since 1993, there has been a vast majority in the Storting of Norwegian EEA members, Støre says before adding:
– A government led by Labor is also the guarantor of a major cleanup in working life. The EEA deal doesn’t get in the way, but right-wing politics do.
– Will the EEA agreement be on the negotiating table after a change of government?
– Norway’s membership in the EEA is the starting point and is a clear prerequisite for the ruling Labor Party. The other parties know it, says Støre.
– The EEA agreement was the basis for eight years in government (2005-2013). There is a large majority in the Storting in favor of the EEA agreement and there is no doubt that the Labor Party relies on this. So I say that we must constantly work to take advantage of the room for maneuver, continues the Labor leader.
– Stoltenberg clarified the EEA issue before the red-green government in 2005. Has this been clarified for a future Støre government?
– The 2005 clarification still applies to us. We hope to present policies with stronger ambitions for Norwegian working life that promote Norwegian wages and working conditions together with the parties that are currently in opposition. Our future government partners are well aware that for the Labor Party, EEA membership is the foundation, says Jonas Gahr Støre.
A revolt without leaders
Brexit fears
Actually, we were supposed to run into the Venstre peaks in Vippetangen, but a sudden rain over Oslo made us park under the roof of a crown-enclosed cafe by the harbor pool.
The aim was actually to get a glimpse of some visible export-oriented businesses in the center of Oslo. It is not necessarily that easy. But it is possible to catch a glimpse of GC Rieber, dependent on the EEA, when we enjoy the beautiful view of Ekeberg. They have international activities in industry, shipping and real estate, says a political adviser.
Nordbetong also has a facility that we can see through the rain. They are part of the Heidelberg Cement Group, which is one of the world’s largest building materials manufacturers with 58,000 employees in 60 countries, they tell us.
Point? Both companies, and thousands of others in Norway, need the agreement of the EEA, notes the Minister of Trade and Industry Nybø.
– We are a small and open economy that is completely dependent on trade for a welfare society. International trade and cooperation is the way forward for us. Brexit is a fear and a warning of what cutting ties with the EU will mean, warns Nybø, who is negotiating a free trade deal with the UK today.
Better or worse?
The background to the new skepticism of the union movements about the EEA agreement is the pressure that many workers suffer on wages and working conditions. The enlargement of the EU eastward in the mid-2000s caused a huge increase in labor immigration to Western Europe and is also one of the explanations for Brexit in particular.
As SV leader Audun Lysbakken says:
– Norway’s economic elite only see the benefits of the EEA and so do many Norwegian politicians, because they are blind to much of what happens in Norwegian working life. Social dumping is spreading now and wages stagnate, says SV leader.
It is a description of reality Left leaders do not share.
– Have Norwegian workers improved or worsened after the enlargement of the EU to the east?
– Do we have any basis to say that it has worsened? It is clear that labor immigration has increased, and it has some challenges, but it is increasing because we need labor. Much of the business community has become dependent on labor immigration, says Commerce and Industry Minister Nybø, with the party leader following:
– It is worth asking what basis the claims they make about Norwegian working life have. Efforts are also being made to improve control in Norwegian workplaces by preparing better tenders with clearer requirements. I think there is a lot of room for maneuver to tackle these challenges also within the EEA agreement. In either case, the problem will be that jobs are in danger without the EEA deal, says Melby.
New Labor case
Fully regulated
Støre fought a long battle over the EEA deal last year, which ended when the EEA opponents at Fellesforbundet agreed to study the deal rather than tell it no.
When the debate arose, the Labor leader first said that investigating the EEA agreement would be as absurd as sitting at the kitchen table with his wife – after 30 years of marriage – and saying that he now wants to investigate alternatives to marriage.
So now Støre has turned around, and the comparison brings forth laughter from liberal leaders.
– In a marriage, and in a couple, it is the case that you are inside or outside. If you start opening that door for the first time, you’re exiting, Melby warns of left-wing EEA alternatives.
At Nybø’s house, there is also no need for any investigation.
– With us, there are two lawyers. Everything is rigorously regulated.
