Norway's coalition split: Centre Party exits over EU energy policy
The agrarian Senterpartiet left the centre-left government of Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, representing the Labour Party, on Thursday. According to Støre, the conflict arises from the Senterpartiet's eurosceptics' refusal to deepen Norway's relations with the European Union in the area of energy policy.
The Centre 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 Labour government.
According to The Barents Observer, the two-party minority coalition that governed this Nordic country since the parliamentary elections in 2021 broke apart after the Centre Party (Senterpartiet) rejected three EU directives on clean energy. This decision was preceded by weeks of intra-governmental conflicts.
The leader of the Centre 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 Labour Party members.
Source: PAP/Barents Observer/Eractiv.com/WP
