Norwegian farmers warn EU membership would reshape agriculture

Norwegian farmers remain firmly opposed to joining the European Union, but are preparing for membership to return to the centre of Norway’s political debate, mbl.is reported. Bjørn Gimming, chair of the Norwegian Farmers’ Union Norges Bondelag, discussed the impact of the EU on Norwegian agriculture at a farmers’ conference at the Nordica Hotel on Friday.

Gimming said he did not intend to advise Icelanders how to vote, but wanted to share Norway’s experience of developing agricultural policy within the European Economic Area.

Although opposition to EU membership remains strong in Norway, Gimming said circumstances could change quickly. Norges Bondelag does not want a new EU debate, he said, but must be prepared. The organisation has therefore begun a project with farmers’ cooperatives to renew its knowledge of the EU, the EEA and the bloc’s common agricultural policy.

The farmers’ union believes EU membership would make it impossible to maintain Norway’s agricultural model in its current form. Norwegian farmers receive tariff protection against imports, while 65% of imported agricultural products come from EU countries. Membership would prevent Norway from imposing tariffs on the country’s largest agricultural competitor.

Annual negotiations between farmers and the government on support and prices would also disappear, Gimming said, leaving Norway without the same independence to shape its own agricultural policy. The existing market-management system, operated by farmer-owned cooperatives, would not continue in its current form. The system includes quotas and controls on prices and production.

Gimming also said membership would make it more difficult to maintain agricultural production and secure farmers’ livelihoods throughout Norway. The country’s current level of self-sufficiency is about 40%, while the Norwegian parliament has set a target of 50%. Reaching that target would require an agricultural policy specifically adapted to Norwegian conditions.

Like Iceland, Norway is outside the EU but part of the European Economic Area. Gimming said the EEA Agreement already affects Norwegian agriculture in areas including food and animal health, organic production, technical standards and climate policy. Agricultural policy itself remains outside the agreement, allowing Norway to retain its own agricultural model and tariffs on imports from the EU.

He said Norwegian farmers were interested in following Iceland’s EU debate and referendum, and in seeing what effect it might have on the discussion in Norway. The core argument among Norwegian opponents of EU membership remains sovereignty and proximity to decision-making: it is more important to retain control over decisions made in Norway than to influence decisions in Brussels, Gimming said.