Fishing disputes increase strain on Nordic links

Date: 15/02/1996

By Emily Von Sydow

SOLIDARITY between Nordic countries is coming under severe strain amid mounting criticism of Norway from its neighbours inside the EU.

Tension has been fuelled by the fact that Sweden, Denmark and Finland are turning to the European Commission for help in resolving their disputes with Oslo, instead of tackling them bilaterally as in the past.

Those who campaigned for a Yes to EU membership in Norway's 1994 referendum say the current situation bears out their warnings about what would happen if the country voted to remain outside the 15 member state bloc.

Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Bruntland last week accused Sweden of using Norway's position outside the EU to make unreasonable demands in the fisheries sector.

She concluded that, with talks on a range of disputes moving from the Nordic capitals to Brussels, Norway's natural negotiating partners were no longer Sweden, Denmark and Finland but the European Commission.

However, Oslo has come under fire from opposition politicians in Norway, who say ministers are to blame for the fact that the country is now embroiled in conflicts with all its neighbours, instead of using them as its mouthpiece to voice their views to the EU.

Fisheries are at the centre of most of the current conflicts between the Nordic nations.

A bitter dispute erupted after two Danish trawlers were seized earlier this month for 'trespassing' in the newly-enlarged Norwegian zone.

Norway eventually released the trawlers in the wake of Danish complaints that the new borders had not been clearly fixed and declared prohibited fishing areas for foreigners.

Nevertheless, the Commission continues to wait for an explanation for Norway's “overzealous behaviour”.

Norwegian and Commission officials will meet to discuss the issue next week.

“Fines can be foreseen, but we first want to hear if Norway's biological scientific data justify this restriction of EU's fishing rights,” says Filippo di Robilant, spokesman for Fisheries Commissioner Emma Bonino.

The Norwegians have, as always, justified the enlarged non-fishing zone for foreigners on conservation grounds.

Conservation is also being used by Norway to justify its call for a reduction in Sweden's fishing quota in the North Sea, even though the dispute concerns a relatively small amount of fish.

At a meeting in Stockholm last week, Norwegian Trade Minister Grete Knutsen met her Swedish colleague and began sketching out solutions to the conflict - Norway would assure Sweden's 5,000-tonnes quota in the North Sea if the Swedish government showed flexibility over the species to be covered by the accord.

Another long-running fisheries dispute, this time between Norway and Finland, has also been revived in the wake of Finnish complaints to the EU about Norwegian plans to enlarge a salmon culture.

The Finns claim this risks spreading the deadly gyrodactulus parasite to the wild salmon on the Finnish side of the river Tana, and have called on the Commission to raise the issue when the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASC)) meets in June.

But fishing is not the only issue souring relations between Norway and its Nordic neighbours. Oslo and Stockholm are also locked in a bitter dispute over the tariffs on prepared agricultural products.

Swedish officials have accused Oslo of deliberately raising tariffs in order to give themselves the upper hand in negotiations, while the Norwegians argue the EEA treaty should be expanded to give more agricultural products preferential treatment.