Government collapse in Norway as anti-EU party leaves Støre's cabinet
The Center Party refused to adopt European legislation on clean energy and energy efficiency. PM Jonas Gahr Støre and his social democrats will now form new one-party Labour government.
The two-party minority coalition that has ruled the Nordic country since the 2021 parliament elections has collapsed following the Center Party's rejection of three EU directives on clean energy.
Center Party leader and Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum says he can not accept the directives that are part of EU's fourth energy package. The regulations are aimed at making the continent, including Norway, more energy efficient.
The Fourth Energy Package is also known as 'Clean Energy for all Europeans.'
"I believe it is wrong to give away more power to Brussels," Vedum has repeatedly underlined over the last weeks. He argues that Norway should halt and reverse integration in European energy policies.
The Center Party has scored low on polls over the past year and it is now believed to flag its anti-European policies ahead of the upcoming September 2025 elections.
Jonas Gahr Støre will now form a new government with members only from his Labour Party.
The Center Party has its core support among farmers and agrarians and is strongly opposed also to the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement, the deal that was negotiated after Norway's 'no' in the 1994 referendum on EU membership. The agreement gives Norway, along with Iceland and Lichtenstein, access to the EU internal market, as well as participation in a number of EU programmes and agencies.
As war continues to rage on the continent and Russia steps up efforts to destabilise European countries, including Norway, politics in Oslo today increasingly appear dominated by politicians who question basic pillars in Norway's international cooperation.
And the looming signals from Washington DC about trade wars and muddled security guarantees have clearly not made any significant impression. Not yet.
