Norway and Scandinavian Entry into the Common Market without Great Britain
| Author | Valter Angell |
| DOI | 10.1177/001083676900400105 |
| Date | 01 March 1969 |
| Published date | 01 March 1969 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Norway
and
Scandinavian
Entry
into
the
Common
Market
without
Great
Britain
Valter
Angell
I
The
Effects
on
Norway’s
Trade
with
Great
Britain
in
the
Event
of
a
Common
Scandinavian
Entry
’
into
the
EEC
without
Britain
1.
Introduction
The
following
is
an
attempt
to
outline
the
economic
problems
Norway
would
have
to
face
in
the
event
of
the
Scan-
dinavian
countries
deciding
to
join
the
European
Common
Market
while
Great
Britain
remains
outside.
(’Scandinavia’
and
’the
Scandinavian
countries’ in
this
article
mean
Denmark,
Norway
and
Sweden.)
Norwegian
membership
in
the
EEC
given
concurrent
British
mem-
bership
has
been
discussed
elsewhere.
1
Here
we
shall
take
up
in
particular
the
problem
areas
that
arise
where
Great
Britain
is
to
remain
outside
an
expanded
EEC
to
which
Scandinavia
becomes
attached
in
some
form
that
makes
the
outer
tariff
levels
of
the
Common
Mar-
ket
apply
to
the
Scandinavian
countries,
while
simultaneously
removing
existing
tariffs
between
the
present
EEC
mem-
bers
and
Scandinavia.
The
word
’mem-
bership’
in
the
following
discussion
refers
to
adherence
to
the
Common
Market
in
some
form
that
has
these
results.
We
shall
adopt
as
a
working
hypo-
thesis
that
Norwegian
tariffs
with
res-
pect
to
a
third
country
(any
country
outside
the
expanded
EEC)
would
be
similar
to
the
common
EEC
outer
tariff.
That
is
to
say,
Norway
must
adjust
to
EEC
regulations
on
this
point.
This
seems
the
most
realistic
assumption
to
make,
based
upon
what
has
been
learned
from
earlier
enquiries
into
the
con-
ditions
for
Norwegian
membership.
Similarly,
we
assume
that
Great
Brit-
ain
would
maintain
existing
tariff
levels
towards
the
EEC
even
if
the
Scandinavian
countries
were
to
become
members.
Given
the
relatively
small
importance
that
trade
with
the
Scandi-
navian
countries
has
for
Great
Britain,
and
the
already
high
tariff
levels
this
country
maintains,
it
is
hardly
likely
that
her
trade
policies
would
undergo
a
change
in
this
respect,
if
the
new
market
constellation
we
are
speaking
of
were
to
be
realized.
We
also
choose
to
disregard
for
the
present
the
possibility
that
Brit-
ain
may
introduce
other
types
of
im-
port
restrictions,
such
as
import
quotas,
if
Scandinavia
should
break
with
EFTA
and
join
the
EEC
on
its
own.2
The
tariff
levels
we
shall
investigate
are
those
that
will
be
in
effect
in
1972
when
the
provisions
of
the
Kennedy
Round
agreements
have
been
fulfilled.
Judging
from
the
situation
at
the
pre-
sent
time,
it
would
seem
that
there
is
little
likelihood
of
a
new
market
con-
stellation
being
attained
before
that
date.
74
2.
Main
Characteristics
of
Norwegian
Commodity
Trade
with
Great
Britain
The
foreign
trade
of
Norway
has
tradi-
tionally
had
strong
bonds
with
Great
Britain.
Britain
was
formerly
the
domi-
nant
provider
of
commodities
to
Nor-
way
and
at
the
same
time
the
principal
recipient
of
Norwegian
export
products.
In
more
recent
years,
the
dominant
position
of
Great
Britain
in
Norwegian
foreign
trade
has
become
weaker.
In
particular
on
the
import
side,
where
Sweden
and
West
Germany
are
the
leading
suppliers,
Britain
has
had
its
portion
of
total
Norwegian
imports
reduced.
Great
Britain
remains
Nor-
way’s
most
important
export
market,
but
if
observable
trends
continue,
the
time
is
not
far off
when
Sweden
will
also
become
the
most
important
reci-
pient
of
Norwegian
commodity
exports.
Table
1.
Norway’s
Most
Important
Trading
Partners
.
Source:
Norwegian
Official
Statistics
(NOS)
Foreign
Trade,
SSB.
*Preliminary
figures.
Since
the
creation
of
EFTA,
a
power-
ful
increase
in
inter-member
trade
has
taken
place.
Comparison
of
figures
from
1959
and
1965
shows
that
Great
Britain
alone
has
lessened
in
impor-
tance
as
a
trading
partner
of
Norway,
both
in
regard
to
import
and
export
trade.
Figures
from
1966
and
1967,
however,
show
an
increase
in
the
Brit-
ish
share
of
Norwegian
trade.
At
this
point
it
is
difficult
to
say
whether
this
is
a
temporary
phenomenon
or
a
new
trend.
The
success
or
failure
of
the
latest
measures
to
strengthen
the
Brit-
ish
economy
will
perhaps
decide
the
question.
The
devaluation
of the
pound
is
expected
to
have
the
effect
of
re-
directing
Norwegian
exports
from
Great
Britain
to
other
markets.
The
effects
on
import
trade
should
be
the
opposite.
But
what
is
more
important
for
British-
Norwegian
trade
-
and
especially
for
Norwegian
exports
is
the
likelihood
of
continued
weak
growth
in
the
British
economy
as
a
result
of
restrictive
poli-
cies
intended
to
create
a
more
favorable
balance
in
Great
Britain’s
payments.
3.
A
Short
Survey
of
the
Composition
of
Trade
between
Norzaray
and
Great
Britain
a.
Norwegian
Exports
to
Great
Britain
One
characteristic
feature
of
Nor-
wegian
exports
to
Britain
is
that
they
are
concentrated
on
relatively
few
groups
of
products.
Fish
and
fish
pro-
ducts,
pulp
and
paper
and
metals
made
up
about
three-fourths
of
Norwegian
exports
to
Great
Britain
in
1966.
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