# ברעקסיט יקספּאָוזיז 'ווישפול טינגקינג' פון נאָרווייַ ס עאַ פיינט - פרעמד מיניסטער

Opponents of Norway’s close ties to the European Union are wrong to assume a more beneficial relationship could be found, as shown by Britain’s troubled negotiations to leave the bloc, the Norwegian foreign minister said this week, שרייבט Terje Solsvik.

Along with fellow EU outsiders Iceland and Lichtenstein, Norway is a member of the union’s common market for goods, services, capital and labour via the European Economic Area Agreement, and must grant reciprocal access in return.

“The agreement secures a unique access to European markets for Norwegian companies and workers. As a nation of just 5 million people, we get access to a domestic market of around 500 million people,” Ine Eriksen Soereide told Norway’s parliament.

Opinion polls show that while most Norwegians oppose full EU membership, they back the 1994 EEA agreement, even though it forces them to adopt many EU rules on trade and commerce without a say in their making.

While the government is happy to debate the issue, it will not “put in play” the agreement at the heart of Norway’s EU relations, Eriksen Soereide told parliament.

“It’s wishful thinking to believe that we can keep the EEA agreement while negotiating an alternative, and then decide which of the two we want when we see the outcome of the negotiations,” she added.

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