EU Bullies Norway over Energy 'Markets™'

It's never been more obvious to see through the BS surrounding 'EU integration™', which is--little more than opt-in tyranny

Long-time readers know that I’m quite critical of the EU, and this week’s ‘discussion’ of how Brussels treats those it deems important but not equals is one of the chief reasons why.

The topic is Norway’s pending ‘integration’ (read: absorption) into the EU-directed ‘Energy Market™’. Don’t worry, it’s neither about energy nor is it a real market, but it does beg the question: what is it? And, perhaps more importantly for those countries aspiring to join the EU (at this late hour): what are the implications of EU ‘integration’?

Translation and emphases mine, as are the bottom lines.

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Vedum on Energy Pressure from the EU: ‘SP is a party that finds solutions’

Time will tell whether Norway will be integrated into the EU’s power market, says the leader of the Norwegian Labour Party and Minister of Finance. The European Commission tells NRK that the dialogue is ‘ongoing and constructive’ [they said the same about ‘Brexit’ negotiations].

By Celina Ekholt, Mats Rønning, and Trond Lydersen, NRK, 25 June 2024 [source]

The EU has been pressurising the Støre government to put in place more rules to connect Norway more closely to the European power market [this is the ‘rules-based order’; if you, small countries in the Global South, thought them Big Boyz would only do this to you, watch and learn].

In March, the EU warned of the consequences if the government spends too much time thinking about the EU’s fourth energy market package, also known as the Clean Energy Package [I know that kind of ‘negotiation’ from my decade in Switzerland; the one and only relevant answer is: stop or I’ll cut existing ties, and with respect to energy, ‘clean™’ or otherwise, it is Norway that holds the better hand].

But Labour [Arbeiderpartiet] and SP [Socialist Left] still disagree on the way forward. ‘This is one of the most sensitive issues in the Støre government.’

‘We don’t want any part of the package to be incorporated into Norwegian law’, Marit Arnstad, parliamentary leader of the Centre Party, told NRK on Tuesday [kudos to her and her party].

Finding Solutions [sic]

Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (SP) says that people were aware of the disagreement between SP and Labout in the EU debate:

When that issue comes to the government, we’ll have to deal with it then.

At the same time, he emphasises that his party is solution-oriented [i.e., compromised by pro-EU hawks], although he is not clear about what the solution might be [stalling tactics, perhaps?].

‘The Centre Party is a party that finds solutions and is clear about our positions’, Vedum continues [I don’t know why Mr. Vedum jumps that far here, it seems incongruent]. He also does not want to say when the issue will be dealt with:

Time will tell. These are processes that often take time.

EU: ‘Ongoing and Constructive Dialogue’

In February, however, Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide told the Norwegian newspaper Nationen that the package was not necessarily very far away, and that something could come in the spring.

In March, the EU set a deadline of mid-August to introduce parts of the package, the so-called Renewable Energy Directive [in the EU, this decree must be ‘transposed’ into national legislation].

Last week, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) confirmed to Aftenposten that the government will break the deadline set by the EU for when the Renewables Directive must be in place [kudos to him; I hope he stands his ground].

Because no more proposals will be submitted to the Norwegian parliament before the summer, it is not practically possible to decide whether to incorporate the directive until October at the earliest [nice procedural trick?].

A spokesperson for the European Commission wrote in an email to NRK on Tuesday that the dialogue with Norway is ‘ongoing and constructive’ on energy-related issues.

This includes the implementation of the energy rules in the EEA Agreement.

We note that the Prime Minister emphasised the importance of the EEA Agreement as the basis for our cooperation. And that the government is still working on this particular issue.

Vedum Open for a Veto

Norway has become the EU’s largest supplier of gas [told you Oslo has the better hand]. Undersea cables have been built to the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany to trade [sic] more power. This has brought electricity prices in Norway closer to those in the rest of Europe [they’re still way lower than in Central Europe, but Norway can’t beat France with its nuclear power stations].

Trading energy in a single EU market also requires common rules [that’s their ruse]. In 2018, the Norwegian Parliament approved a controversial set of rules, called the EU’s third energy market package. It is often referred to as ‘Acer’, which is the EU’s energy agency.

This process took over ten years.

But already in the same year, the EU was ready to renew the rules with a larger and more complicated version, called the fourth energy market package [it’s always the same play, by the way, in case you’re wondering].

The EU’s co-operation on energy has also aroused great resistance among EU opponents.

The Centre Party is on the ‘no’ side of the EU issue [this is a decent election strategy].

Last week, Vedum (SP) told Aftenposten that they want the government to veto the latest energy market package [same here].

This kind of EU opposition would be historic. Norway has never used the veto right before.

Speaking to Aftenposten, the Prime Minister would neither open nor close the door to the possibility of a veto, as the Norwegian Labour Party wants [he will see how the mood is ahead of the next national elections; I think there’s a realistic chance Labour will come out on the ‘no’ side if they see it as a beneficial election strategy—if they stick with it thereafter, no-one knows].

In October last year, ‘Nei til EU’ [No to the EU] lost the battle against Acer in the final instance.

The Supreme Court concluded that the Storting’s decision to link Norway to the EU’s energy agency Acer, through the EU's third energy market package, was not unconstitutional.

This makes opposition to the fourth package more difficult.

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Bottom Lines

This is all so unbelievably stupid, and Norwegian politicos and journos know they hold the better hand, but they somehow kow-tow to Brussels. I think it’s because they are compromised and/or aiming for ‘top jobs’ in the EU or NATO.

There’s almost no politician in the West anywhere who still serves ‘the national interest’ or at least considers his duties to the electorate.

The EU is a monstrosity that bullies everyone; just ask Mr. Yanukovitch about his experiences in late 2013. Or the Serbian government. Or now Norway.

It’s the one and only thing these people know to do.

And, much like with ‘the Great Reset’, these bullies need you to opt-in.

It was the same with ‘Covid’.

I don’t know why they do this; my guess is they lack the will and wherewithal to force you, hence their ‘desire’—necessity—for ‘voluntary’ compliance.

Just say no.