International Business Podium: Norway’s Experience With the EEA

Name: International Business Podium: Norway’s Experience With the EEA
Start: 2021-12-06T16:15:00+01:00
End: 2021-12-06T17:35:00+01:00

6 December 2021

On December 6, the next International Business Podium will be held on the topic of "Norway's Experience with the European Economic Area". The guest speaker will be the Norwegian Ambassador to Switzerland H.E. Erik Førne.

Norway’s Experience With the European Economic Area

Guest Speaker: H.E. Erik Førner, Norwegian Ambassador to Switzerland

On 6 December 1992, 50.3% of the Swiss population voted against an agreement reached by the Swiss Federal Council to join the European Economic Area (EEA). Instead, Switzerland realigned its European policy and successfully developed two packages of bilateral agreements with the European Union (EU) that were approved by the population in several popular referenda. Still, since 2008 the EU and Switzerland have been searching for new ways to upgrade their already close economic relationship by implementing a more dynamic approach. So far, all attempts to find a consensus within the Federal Council on such a framework agreement have failed. Consequently, other options for Switzerland’s integration into Europe are now back on the table: While joining the EU remains the preference of only a small minority, joining the EEA – which has been quite successful for Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway – has significantly more support today than it has had for a long time.