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Norway is one of the European Union's closest partners. Although the population decided by a slim majority against joining the EU in 1972 and 1994, the northern European country is, together with Iceland and Liechtenstein, the most integrated third country in the EU structures. As members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), these countries participate in the European Economic Area (EEA) and are also part of the Schengen area. In addition, there are numerous bilateral agreements that regulate relations between Oslo and Brussels in a wide variety of policy areas and promote close cooperation between the two partners. In addition to the political agreements, the EU and Norway share a wide range of values and fundamental convictions, which are reflected in the common commitment to peace, freedom, human rights and a valuesbased multilateral world order.

Nonetheless, there are also voices in Norway advocating greater disengagement from the EU, as the country implements EU legislation and participates in the financing of the Union but, as a third country, has no say in its decision-making process. In domestic politics, the past four years have been marked by several changes in the governing parties. First, the Conservative party (Høyre) led by Prime Minister Erna Solberg governed with the right-wing populist Progress Party in a minority government that depended on the votes of the social-liberal Venstre Party and the Christian Democrats (KrF) in parliament. After both parties joined the government in 2018 and 2019, initially only supporting it, the Progress Party left the government in January 2020, leading again to a minority government, which is not uncommon in Norway. Current polls suggest that the opposition Social Democrats have a good chance of leading the next government for the first time since 2013.

Who are the winners, who the losers of the 2021 Parliamentary Election? Which thematic priorities did the election winners focus on during their campaign? Can we expect a change of course in domestic and European policy? The event "The Morning After - Norway has voted" will take place on Tuesday, 14 September 2021 at 09:30-10:15 CET via Zoom. We look forward to discussing the above topics with our colleague Gabriele Baumann, Director of the KAS Nordic Countries Project. After the discussion between Ms. Baumann and Dr. Hardy Ostry, Director of the European Office of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. The audience will also have the opportunity to contribute their questions to the discussion. The event will be held in German and will also be simultaneously translated in English.

For registration please use the following LINK!

We are looking forward to your participation!