Center party exit shakes Norway's government over EU policies
The agrarian Center Party (Senterpartiet) left the center-left government of Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, representing the Labor Party, on Thursday. According to Støre, the conflict arises from the Center Party's eurosceptic stance and its refusal to deepen Norway's relations with the European Union in terms of energy policy.
The Center Party refused to adopt European legislation on clean energy and energy efficiency.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and his social democrats will now form a new single-party Labor government.
According to The Barents Observer, the two-party minority coalition that has governed this Nordic country since the 2021 parliamentary elections broke apart after the Center Party rejected three EU directives on clean energy. This decision was preceded by weeks of intra-governmental conflicts.
The leader of the Center Party and Finance Minister, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, states that he cannot accept directives that are part of the EU's fourth energy package. The regulations aim to make the continent, including Norway, more energy-efficient.
They want to halt EU energy integration
"I believe that ceding more power to Brussels is wrong," Vedum emphasized repeatedly in recent weeks.
He argues that Norway should halt and reverse integration into European energy policy.
As a member of the European Economic Area, Norway is obliged to adopt EU regulations on energy.
Jonas Gahr Støre will now form a new government consisting solely of Labor Party members.
Source: PAP/Barents Observer/Eractiv.com/WP
