Norwegians and the Common Market

Abstract

The EEC of “six” expanded to “nine” following the admission of Denmark, Ireland, and the U.K. on January 1, 1973. With the view of joining the EEC, the Norwegian government called for a referendum on September 25, 1972. The referendum did not get popular support and at the present time Norway stays out of the EEC. Given that Norwegians and other west Europeans have similarity with regard to economic, political, social, and cultural characteristics, it was surprising that the referendum did not receive popular support. This study was, therefore, designed to find out why Norwegians did not support the referendum to join the EEC. Responses provided by 306 households located in various parts of Norway revealed that the referendum was turned down because a great majority of Norwegians did not want to be governed by “Brussels”. Any future attempt(s) to join the EEC may, therefore, emphasize that joining the EEC will not affect domestic economic and political policies.