Statssekretær Eides innlegg 24. september 2001 på Forskningsrådets konferanse om Samarbeidsprogrammet med Sentral- og Østeuropa.

Norway's European Policy and Cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe.

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN PROGRAMME

COOPERATION IN THE AREAS OF RESEARCH AND HIGHER EDUCATION

1997 – 2000.

First of all, I would like to thank you for inviting me to this conference. I appreciate this opportunity to present my views on an important aspect of our European policy to this distinguished audience.

The upheavals in Central and Eastern Europe a decade ago opened up the perspective of a new and integrated Europe. The post-communist countries faced enormous challenges in the process of transition to political pluralism and market oriented-economies. Like other European countries, Norway was ready to shoulder its part of the responsibility for reuniting Europe.

The Central and Eastern European Cooperation Programme, and before that the Action Programme for Eastern Europe, were set up and implemented in the early 1990s. This programme has been an important Norwegian foreign policy tool.

From the very beginning, the programme had a dual purpose:

- to help the reform countries consolidate and promote their democratization processes and establish market economies

- to develop good relations and cooperation between Norway and these countries.

The main priority has been given to northwestern Russia and the Baltic countries.

The programme aimed to achieve this through specific projects in a number of areas. These projects were initiated and implemented on a people-to-people basis. This arrangement has functioned well in relation to the aims and goals of the programme.

Of prime importance to the development and democratization of any country is the field of science and education. This field was therefore given high priority in the programme.

Since the end of the Cold War, the development of relations with Russia has been one of Norway’s primary foreign policy objectives. Matched by Russia’s openness to closer cooperation, there has been tremendous growth in contact and cooperation between Norway and Russia during the 1990s. What has taken place is a normalization of relations between two neighbouring countries with many common interests.

We have seen and encouraged the development of a network of direct links between Norwegian and Russian entities: government agencies, municipalities, business enterprises, NGOs and so forth. One good illustration is the situation at the local level in the North, where relations have been fundamentally transformed. Where the border was previously sealed, cross-border contact and cooperation now flourish.

Education and research is an area where the results have been very positive. We highly value the cooperative efforts being made under the programme. Within the field of education, we are extremely pleased to see that Norwegian primary and secondary schools, especially in the northern parts of Norway, have developed close cooperation with Russian schools, and that the Norwegian language is being taught in Russian schools and Russian in Norwegian schools.

On the whole, our assessment of the Cooperation Programme during the past ten years is positive. In particular, we are grateful to our partners who are represented here today – the Research Council and the Council of Higher Education – as well as all the institutions which have helped implement the programme. I am also grateful to the many partners we have cooperated with in Russia, the Baltic countries and Central Europe.

However, the challenges we now face are different from those of the past decade.

Dynamic changes have taken place in Europe.

The countries we cooperate with – Russia and the countries of Central Europe – have come a long way since 1989.

As a result of this, Norway’s position is rapidly changing, too.

In Europe, the last remnants of the Iron Curtain are being swept away. It is only now, perhaps, more than a decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall, that the long-term effects of that event are beginning to make themselves felt in European and transatlantic relations.

Politically and geographically, Europe will increasingly become synonymous with the European Union. The EU is becoming pan-European.

The situation of the countries of Central Europe has changed radically since the Cooperation Programme was first started. Apart from Russia and the CIS countries, all these countries are now candidates for membership of the EU. The accession negotiations are well under way.

The reason why they have come so far is that they fulfil the political, and to varying degrees, the economic criteria for membership set by the EU.

I am confident that EU enlargement will enhance security and stability in Europe. At the same time, it will create new challenges and opportunities for Norway. The enlargement of the internal market will lead to closer cooperation between Norway and the new member states within the areas covered by the EEA Agreement. Enlargement will mean intensified competition for Norwegian business and industry, but the expanded Single Market will also create new opportunities. Common rules and stable operating parameters in a larger market will also provide a sound basis for growth and development. Clearly, it is in Norway’s interest to help prepare the candidate countries for participation in the Single Market.

The new member countries will join the EU pillar of the European Economic Area (EEA) and enlarge the internal market of which Norway is part. Thus when the candidate countries become members of the EU, the political and economic importance of the EU pillar in the EEA will increase in proportion to that of the EFTA pillar. There is already a lack of balance in the EEA Council, to put it mildly. The task will not become easier if Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein eventually must face some 27 or even 28 countries on the other side of the table in the EEA Council.

When they join the EU, the candidate countries’ free trade agreements with EFTA will lapse. For Norway this will mean reduced market access for fish and fish products because the EEA Agreement does not provide for free market access for these products.

Against this background it has become necessary to reorganize the Cooperation Programme. It is no longer logical to lump the candidate countries together with Russia in the planning and implementation of Norwegian cooperation policy.

Russia’s importance internationally and in relation to Norway, especially in the North, has justified the establishment of a separate Norwegian strategy for Russia, with its own follow-up.

The Government continues to attach great importance to relations with Russia. In May of last year, we presented a document which has become known as the Government’s "Russia Strategy". This paper outlines the basis and overriding objectives of our policy towards Russia. It provides an analysis of the present situation as well as recommendations for future policy in important areas of cooperation, such as the environment, energy, culture, health care, education and research, to name just a few.

Our "Russia Strategy" is intended to provide a common framework for the activities of the numerous government agencies involved in cooperation with Russia. To maximize the effectiveness of our efforts, it is important to ensure that they are coordinated. The "Russia Strategy" is intended to help achieve this without resorting to the centralized approach of previous times. The feedback we have received so far indicates that the strategy is found to be a useful framework and reference document.

EU enlargement has created a need for a comprehensive review of relations between Norway and the candidate countries. Our aim is to strengthen our ties with these countries, and our cooperation with them must be adjusted accordingly. These future members of the EU will be the object of a separate plan of action that focuses on their needs and Norway’s interests.

We want to promote security and stability in Europe by supporting the integration of the Baltic and Central and Eastern European countries into the EU.

We want to create a platform for broad and strengthened Norwegian cooperation with all the candidate countries, especially the Baltic and Central and Eastern European countries, by encouraging closer contact, network-building and cooperation in selected areas.

Norway’s efforts will mainly be directed towards the Baltic countries and Poland. Our efforts should be harmonized with those of other countries, particularly the EU, in order to avoid duplication of effort, and should be based on Norwegian interests and comparative advantages. In the selection of projects we will put particular emphasis on the following factors:

• the candidate countries’ own priorities
• Norwegian interests in relation to the individual country
• the EU’s assessment of each country and the support and measures it provides

The Plan of Action extends to 2006. It will be revised as the projects are expanded and country strategies are developed. NOK 169 million has already been allocated over the Foreign Ministry budget (disbursements and commitments) for a collective effort in the candidate countries in 2001 and 2002.

Our intention is to continue in the future our cooperation with the Research Council and the Council for Higher Education. We will need a new agreement which, in our view, should have two parts, one for Russia and one for the candidate countries.The new programme will have a greater emphasis on country profiles and concentration of efforts and resources. The country profiles will focus more on cooperation between institutions in selected priority areas.

Let me conclude my remarks by thanking you once again for our cooperation during the past five years. I hope that this conference will give a strong impetus to our future work.