Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre’s address when the European Council marked the 30th anniversary of the EEA Agreement

As delivered (transcribed)

Thank you, Charles (Michel), thank you for inviting us here and thank you for making the efforts to convene us on the 30^th anniversary of the EEA agreement.

I will subscribe to what the Prime Minister of Iceland said on behalf of the EFTA states on the EEA side. For me it is also a personal jubilee, because I was part of the Norwegian delegation negotiating the EEA. And I was going through the records back home in Norway and I think that I am the only one still standing from that period.

For us, you know, it was a real breakthrough thing when the President of the Commission in the end of 1988 invited the EFTA countries to come to cooperate on the Internal Market. We were then seven EFTA states, and Austria, Finland, Sweden went for EU membership – as did Norway, however, we did not succeed that referendum – but we have 30 years now of an EEA agreement where we have done our best to maintain a level playing field, equal rights and obligations, and we have the Erasmus generations now coming together from the Arctic to the Mediterranean.

It matters to people, and Norway, we have, in addition, joined the Schengen and the EEA has been a lightning rod to attach values to it – as research and development and now, recently, in the defense industry area – jumping to our days – when we are now participating and contributing to common goals. So, on your agenda, dear colleagues, which is today a testimony to all the drama that is confronting Europe – this session this morning, which I think is a benign moment to celebrate the peaceful cooperation that has benefitted us all.

But I would just like to share on behalf of Norway that what is now confronting us, in terms of attack on a European country, an attack on our integrity and our values, we stand firmly with Europe. And we are ready to contribute in every respect to make Europe stronger to confront these challenges.

I would like to thank the President of the Commission, for her personal involvement of being responsive to the EEA member states from the EFTA side. We have now from Norway’s side concluded a Green Alliance with the European Union, we will reach our Paris obligations alongside Europe, and as the Prime Minister of Iceland said, we believe that in the areas such as health, secure connectivity, we are also part of an economic and human ecosystem where we all need to find ways of cooperation closely.

So, we see ourselves as EU’s closest partner and ally. We share ambitions and we share concerns, and when there are obstacles, we have always experienced that there are ways to find constructive solutions. I would also like to thank my Nordic friends who are good partners, and our Baltic friends who are regionally, geographically close to us, and with whom we have close relations, but basically to all EU member states for upholding this important cooperation.

And we will do what we can in the next phase of EU enlarging itself, as the Prime Minister of Iceland said, the Cohesion Fund is a significant contribution to society and development of many EU member states, and also when we confront big challenges ahead, such as climate, security, artificial intelligence, we are clearly committed to be part of that endeavor. So, thank you, Mr. President.