4 ms·

I found this article to be quite good for showing what the EU-Norway relationship entails: http://openeurope.org.uk/today/blog/what-would-a-norway-style-relatio

I found this article to be quite good for showing what the EU-Norway relationship entails: http://openeurope.org.uk/today/blog/what-would-a-norway-style-relationship-with-the-eu-entail/ http://openeurope.org.uk/today/blog/what-would-a-norway-styl...

digi_owl 10y ago
One thing to keep in mind is that Norway do have the option to not implement various EU Directives. But the politicians are skittish about doing so, fearing EU sanctions. The most hotly debated directive in recent history was the postal directive. Norway could also have remained outside Shengen, except that there was an existing agreement with Denmark and Sweden (dunno about finland) allowing citizens of either to visit without passports. This agreement would have been ended had Norway not joined Shengen.
- eivarv 10y ago
  The data retention directive was also pretty controversial.
  - digi_owl 10y ago
    That one played out differently though. The major parties were all about getting the DRD implemented, but ended up being constantly postponed because of costs etc. Then it turned into a shit storm within EU and basically vanished. the postal directive on the other hand got a much bigger resistance from the parties.
- chvid 10y ago
  AFAIK travel without passport in Scandinavia ended with the current refugee crisis.
  - ptaipale 10y ago
    Generally, no, it did not. Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have had travel without passport since 1952, and Iceland joined 1955, Faroe Islands in 1966. Svalbard (that belongs to Norway) is still excluded. (In Schengen, you still need to have a passport or identity card, even if there are usually no checks; within the Nordic passport union area, that is not necessary for citizens.) There are some checks in the ferries/trains between Denmark and Sweden. But I can step in my car and drive from here to Haparanda to Narvik and no one will stop me to ask for a passport.
    - jdavis703 10y ago
      Exactly this. Or take a plane. The checks aren't even run by official government agents, it's the railroad that does the checks for fear of fines.
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      - vilhelm_s 10y ago
        There is also an internal check by the Swedish police at Hyllie station on the Swedish side, which is done by government officials.[1] (They said in the long term, they hope to replace this system to instead have Swedish border police on the Danish side, in order to have one check instead of two [2]). But yeah, you can still avoid the ID controls by taking a car across the border instead of the train. [1] http://www.oresundsinstituttet.org/fakta-id-kontrollerna-over-oresund-forlanger-restiden-med-tag-till-sverige-med-mellan-10-och-50-minuter/ http://www.oresundsinstituttet.org/fakta-id-kontrollerna-ove... [2] http://www.sydsvenskan.se/2016-01-12/sa-ska-id-kontrollerna-forandras http://www.sydsvenskan.se/2016-01-12/sa-ska-id-kontrollerna-...
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - mickronome 10y ago
    Yes and no. There are now ID controls when you travel from Denmark to Norway and Sweden, and from Sweden to Norway. The currently applied laws are temporary in both Norway and Sweden as far as I understand, and also only requires a national ID card or drivers license from one of the Scandinavian countries. There is obviously always a risk that temporary measures become permanent, at least between Sweden and Denmark it is not very likely as the mumber of people crossing the strait each day for work is quite high, and the ID checks increase the travel time significantly.

digi_owl 10y ago

One thing to keep in mind is that Norway do have the option to not implement various EU Directives. But the politicians are skittish about doing so, fearing EU sanctions. The most hotly debated directive in recent history was the postal directive. Norway could also have remained outside Shengen, except that there was an existing agreement with Denmark and Sweden (dunno about finland) allowing citizens of either to visit without passports. This agreement would have been ended had Norway not joined Shengen.

eivarv 10y ago
The data retention directive was also pretty controversial.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  That one played out differently though. The major parties were all about getting the DRD implemented, but ended up being constantly postponed because of costs etc. Then it turned into a shit storm within EU and basically vanished. the postal directive on the other hand got a much bigger resistance from the parties.
chvid 10y ago
AFAIK travel without passport in Scandinavia ended with the current refugee crisis.
- ptaipale 10y ago
  Generally, no, it did not. Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have had travel without passport since 1952, and Iceland joined 1955, Faroe Islands in 1966. Svalbard (that belongs to Norway) is still excluded. (In Schengen, you still need to have a passport or identity card, even if there are usually no checks; within the Nordic passport union area, that is not necessary for citizens.) There are some checks in the ferries/trains between Denmark and Sweden. But I can step in my car and drive from here to Haparanda to Narvik and no one will stop me to ask for a passport.
  - jdavis703 10y ago
    Exactly this. Or take a plane. The checks aren't even run by official government agents, it's the railroad that does the checks for fear of fines.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - vilhelm_s 10y ago
      There is also an internal check by the Swedish police at Hyllie station on the Swedish side, which is done by government officials.[1] (They said in the long term, they hope to replace this system to instead have Swedish border police on the Danish side, in order to have one check instead of two [2]). But yeah, you can still avoid the ID controls by taking a car across the border instead of the train. [1] http://www.oresundsinstituttet.org/fakta-id-kontrollerna-over-oresund-forlanger-restiden-med-tag-till-sverige-med-mellan-10-och-50-minuter/ http://www.oresundsinstituttet.org/fakta-id-kontrollerna-ove... [2] http://www.sydsvenskan.se/2016-01-12/sa-ska-id-kontrollerna-forandras http://www.sydsvenskan.se/2016-01-12/sa-ska-id-kontrollerna-...
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- mickronome 10y ago
  Yes and no. There are now ID controls when you travel from Denmark to Norway and Sweden, and from Sweden to Norway. The currently applied laws are temporary in both Norway and Sweden as far as I understand, and also only requires a national ID card or drivers license from one of the Scandinavian countries. There is obviously always a risk that temporary measures become permanent, at least between Sweden and Denmark it is not very likely as the mumber of people crossing the strait each day for work is quite high, and the ID checks increase the travel time significantly.