Norway's government reshuffle: Centre party exits over EU energy row
Members of the Centre Party (Senterpartiet) left the centre-left government of Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, representing the Labour Party, on Thursday. According to Støre, the cause of the conflict is the lack of agreement from the eurosceptics in Senterpartiet on deepening Norway's relations with the European Union in the field of energy policy.
The Centre Party refused to accept European legislation concerning clean energy and energy efficiency.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and his social democrats will now form a new single-party government of the Labour Party.
According to The Barents Observer, the two-party minority coalition that has governed this Nordic country since the parliamentary elections in 2021 collapsed after the Centre Party (Senterpartiet) rejected three EU directives on clean energy. This decision was preceded by weeks of internal governmental struggles.
The leader of the Centre Party and finance minister, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, says that he cannot accept directives that are part of the fourth EU energy package. The regulations aim to make the continent, including Norway, more energy-efficient.
they want to stop eu energy integration
"I believe that giving more power to Brussels is wrong," Vedum repeatedly emphasized in recent weeks.
He claims that Norway should stop and reverse integration in European energy policy.
As a member of the European Economic Area, Norway is obliged to adopt EU energy regulations.
Jonas Gahr Støre will now form a new government composed solely of Labour Party members.
Source: PAP/Barents Observer/Eractiv.com/WP
