1994 Norwegian European Union membership referendum

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1994 Norwegian European Union membership referendum
Flag of Norway.svg
(1994-11-27) (1994-11-28)27–28 November 1994
Should Norway become a member of the EU (European Union)?
Results
Choice
Votes%
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes1,389,99747.82%
Light brown x.svg No1,516,80352.18%
Valid votes2,906,80099.88%
Invalid or blank votes3,5710.12%
Total votes2,910,321100.00%
Registered voters/turnout3,266,06489.11%
Norwegian EU membership referendum, 1994 result by counties.svg
Results by county

A referendum on joining the European Union was held in Norway on 27 and 28 November 1994. [1] [2] [3] After a long period of heated debate, the "no" side won with 52.2 per cent of the vote, on a turnout of 88.6 per cent. Membership of what was then the European Community had previously been rejected in a 1972 referendum, and by French veto in 1962.

Contents

Campaign

The "No" campaign was led by Anne Enger Lahnstein, leader of the Centre Party. [4] The main themes of the "No" campaign were loss of sovereignty if Norway should join the Union, as well as the fundamental differences in economic structure between Norway and the EU, as Norway has an economy based heavily on natural resources (especially oil and fish), in contrast to the EU's more industrial economy.

Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland led the "Yes" campaign. Her party, the Labour Party, was divided on the question of Norwegian membership of the Union. Unlike Trygve Bratteli in 1972, she refused to threaten to resign if the referendum failed to result in a "Yes" vote, on the grounds that more serious divisions could have arisen in the Labour Party. The main arguments of the "Yes" side were that as a European country, Norway belonged in the European Union, and that Norway's economy would benefit from membership.

According to John Erik Fossum, a political science professor at ARENA, Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, "the fact that Norway had already signed the EEA agreement made it easier for people to vote no because they knew that Norway had assured EU market access." [5]

Debates

1994 Norwegian EU membership debates
DateTimeOrganizers P  Present   I  Invitee  N  Non-invitee 
Ap H Sp Sv KrF Frp V R Refs
25 November 199400:00 NRK P
Gro Harlem Brundtland, Thorbjørn Jagland 		P
Jan Petersen 		P
Anne Enger Lahnstein 		P
Erik Solheim 		P
Kjell Magne Bondevik 		P
Carl I. Hagen 		P
Odd Einar Dørum 		P
Aksel Nærstad 		[6]
I NY
9 November 199400:00 NRK and Student Society in Trondheim P
Thorbjørn Berntsen 		P
John G. Bernander 		P
Marit Arnstad 		P
Erik Solheim 		N
N
P
Rune Haaland 		P
Heidi Sørensen 		[7]
SME LO
14 November 199400:00 NRK at Fokus Kino P
Gro Harlem Brundtlan 		P
Kaci Kullmann Five 		P
Johan J. Jakobsen 		N
P
Kjell Magne Bondevik 		NP
Tove Strand 		P
Yngve Hågensen 		[8]
SME UN
23 November 199400:00 NRK P
Thorbjørn Jagland 		P
Jan Petersen 		P
Anne Enger Lahnstein 		P
Stein Ørnhøi 		NNP
Hallvard Bakke 		P
Thorvald Stoltenberg 		[9]

Official party positions

For a 'Yes' voteFor a 'No' vote

Results

Countrywide

ChoiceVotes%
For1,389,99747.82
Against1,516,80352.18
Total2,906,800100.00
Valid votes2,906,80099.88
Invalid/blank votes3,5710.12
Total votes2,910,371100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,266,06489.11
Source: SSB [10]

By constituency

ConstituencyElectorate Spoilt votes Total poll (%)Yes (%)No (%)
Østfold 185,441307163,338 (88)87,390 (54)75,998 (46)
Akershus 322,029443293,331 (91)187,126 (64)106,205 (36)
Oslo 360,340497317,585 (88)211,550 (67)106,035 (33)
Hedmark 146,468215129,674 (89)55,367 (43)74,307 (57)
Oppland 142,911251126,245 (88)55,702 (44)70,543 (56)
Buskerud 174,271240154,345 (89)88,281 (57)66,064 (43)
Vestfold 155,338123138,099 (89)78,698 (57)59,401 (43)
Telemark 125,401106110,136 (88)46,478 (42)63,658 (58)
Aust-Agder 73,8416864,927 (88)28,805 (44)36,122 (56)
Vest-Agder 108,2265896,318 (89)43,947 (46)52,371 (54)
Rogaland 251,790166227,485 (90)103,066 (45)124,419 (55)
Hordaland 313,511244281,543 (90)122,942 (44)158,601 (56)
Sogn og Fjordane 80,1045271,650 (89)22,761 (32)48,889 (68)
Møre og Romsdal 180,426178160,713 (89)61,715 (38)98,998 (62)
Sør-Trøndelag 194,869239171,007 (88)77,035 (45)93,972 (55)
Nord-Trøndelag 96,3445086,110 (89)31,018 (36)55,092 (64)
Nordland 183,703226162,474 (88)46,394 (29)116,080 (71)
Troms 113,84057101,428 (89)28,860 (28)72,568 (72)
Finnmark 57,2115150,342 (88)12,862 (26)37,480 (74)
Source: Dataset European Election Database Archived 2020-08-31 at the Wayback Machine

See also

References

  1. ↑ Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1438 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ↑ Bjørklund, Tor (1997). "Old and New Patterns: The 'No' Majority in the 1972 and 1994 EC/EU Referendums in Norway" . Acta Sociologica. 40 (2): 143–159. doi:10.1177/000169939704000202. ISSN   0001-6993. JSTOR   4201020. S2CID   143540692. Archived from the original on 2022-06-04. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  3. ↑ Fossum, John Erik (2019-08-28). "Norway and the European Union". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1043. ISBN   978-0-19-022863-7. Archived from the original on 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  4. ↑ Biography on Norwegian government's website Archived 2014-11-05 at the Wayback Machine (in Norwegian)
  5. ↑ Fossum, John Erik (2019). "What is the Norway Model? Mode of Affiliation or Political Compromise?". The Political Quarterly. 90 (2): 266–273. doi:10.1111/1467-923X.12684. hdl: 10852/77098 . ISSN   1467-923X. S2CID   159421286. Archived from the original on 2023-09-16. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  6. ↑ "Folkeavstemningen om EU 1994. Partilederdebatt". 10 July 2016. Archived from the original on 17 June 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  7. ↑ "Debatt 21 med EU-folkemøte fra Trondheim". 10 July 2016. Archived from the original on 10 July 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  8. ↑ "Debatt 21 med EU-folkemøte i Tromsø". 10 July 2016. Archived from the original on 10 July 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  9. ↑ "Debatt 21 med EU-møte fra Oslo". 10 July 2016. Archived from the original on 10 July 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  10. ↑ "Resultat av folkeavstemningen om EU". ssb.no (in Norwegian). 1999-01-01. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
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