>> #581: Norway was fed similar lies and scaremongering about economic disaster, being isolated and so on, if they didn't vote to be in the EU in '94.   That was a load of bull...

From the archives (text below):

 

The above text reads:

The Daily Express - 30 Nov 1994

Nej (That's Norwegian for No to Europe)

But They Can Vote Again Soon, says EU

From John Fraser in Brussels

Norway's refusal to join the EU club was greeted with dismay by Europe's leaders last night. But they insisted that the door would remain open, and hoped the country would come out of "ice bound isolation" soon.

As the Norwegian government battled to retain its credibility after the rejection, EU leaders said they could think again about joining in two years, when the Maastricht treaty is reviewed. But with the second "No" vote in 25 years, the chances of a quick change of heart seem slim.

With most of the votes counted last night, the "No" campaigners had won the day by 52.6% to 47.4% - almost the same margin as in 1972.

Speaking after a tense night of vote counting, Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland said "it was the people who made the decision, and we as a country have to live with that."

Jubilant "No" campaigners hailed the result as "wonderful". "With this we have said "Yes" to Europe, and "Yes" to international solidarity, but we don't want to join the Union," said anti-EU leader Anne Enger Lahnstein. The result was a boost for Eurosceptics across the Continent.

But the rest of the Union insisted it would have little effect on its future. European Commission President Jacques Delors led EU leaders in expressing his "disappointment". "Norway could have contributed a lot to the EU, but we  respect this vote," he said. "The door remains open to them - the door will never be closed. (Suspicious)  But he accepted that Norwegians had been suspicious of his Brussels bureaucracy. He tried to reassure them, saying: "We only add new laws when these are indispensible. It is national civil servants, and not us,  who make laws more complicated - they complicate through compromise. " But he admitted "This proves that peoples can at any stage say "Stop!"

John Major said he was "extremely sorry". Norway would have been a net contributor to EU finances and a likely ally. The Socialist leader in the European Parliament, Labour Euro MP Pauline Green, said that EU integration would continue - despite the vote. "Norway has voted for ice-bound isolation." (Blow) "But their democratic decision will in no way affect the development of the EU" she said. "The Norwegian people must now bear the consequences of their own decision in a fast developing wider Europe."

But the reversal is a blow for Europe, where public unease with the EU seems to be growing.

Norway, with 4.3 million people, is Western Europe's largest oil exporter, with one of the world's highest living standards. It is in perhaps better shape than many European countries to weather economic downturns alone.

The vote means only Austria, Finland and Sweden will now join the EU on January 1st, increasing membership from 12 to 15.