On Tuesday, the Storting is due to vote on whether the EU’s revised state aid rules should be incorporated into Norwegian law. It could be close.

In practice, the rules would grant the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) direct powers to obtain confidential information from Norwegian businesses and municipalities, and to impose fines if they fail to cooperate. Four parties believe that this constitutes a transfer of sovereignty of such a nature that Article 115 of the Constitution must be applied, which requires a three-quarters majority.

The Christian Democratic Party changed course

At the eleventh hour, the Christian Democratic Party (KrF) announced on Tuesday morning that it was changing its position. The party had originally supported the majority in the Standing Committee on Business and Industry, consisting of Labour, the Conservatives and the Green Party, but has now switched to the Centre Party’s proposal to postpone the matter until the Supreme Court has expressed an opinion on the constitutional issue. This means that the parties supporting postponement together hold 85 seats, exactly enough for a majority, writes Nationen.

“This is fundamentally about who should be able to impose sanctions on Norwegian businesses. When ESA is granted this authority, a genuine question arises as to whether we are transferring sovereignty to a body of which Norway is not a member,” says Harry Valderhaug of the Christian Democratic Party.

A questionable case

This is not the first time Norway has found itself in this debate. Nei til EU took the state to court over the Storting’s decision to enrol Norway in the energy union ACER, but lost in the Supreme Court in 2023. Nevertheless, Geir Pollestad of the Centre Party believes that the ACER judgment is not relevant in this case.

“The only party that has changed its mind is the Legal Affairs Department of the Ministry of Justice. The Constitution has not changed its mind. That demonstrates how questionable this case is,” he says.

Minister of Trade and Industry Cecilie Myrseth (Labour) points out that, after 13 years of assessment, the Legal Affairs Department is now clear that the transfer of authority is of a limited and non-intrusive nature. Green Party leader Une Bastholm supports the government and rejects the notion that there is a genuine constitutional issue.

“Rattling the sabres over the Constitution in this case looks more like an attempt by the Centre Party to make a political statement,” she says.