King Harald and Queen Sonja were joined by Crown Prince Haakon on Wednesday as they performed the State Opening of the Norwegian Parliament, Stortinget, in the country’s capital, Oslo. This was King Harald’s 28th State Opening since he became King of Norway and it was the 164th time that the Norwegian parliament has officially opened.
The main event during such a ceremony is the “Speech of the Throne”. This tradition comes from section 74 of the Norwegian Constitution which says that the monarch must inform the parliament on the State of the Kingdom. The Norwegian Speech of the Throne has many features similar to the British monarch’s Speech and the US President’s State of the Union speech.
During this year’s speech, King Harald commented on Brexit, saying: “The United Kingdom, after all, will leave the EU and the EEA, with or without an agreement. The government has entered into agreements that guarantee Norwegian citizens and business as good and predictable solutions as possible if the UK leaves the EU without an agreement. Work is also being done on a long-term basis, with permanent agreements. Access to large markets is crucial for Norwegian jobs and Norwegian welfare.”
Norway is not a member of EU. Norway is therefore free to negotiate its own agreements with the British. This is currently ongoing work within Norway. Brexit will still affect Norway. For example, the United Kingdom is the largest importer in the world of Norwegian fish. On Monday, the government signed a fishery-agreement with the United Kingdom, which will continue to allow both countries access to fish in each other’s zones throughout the year even during a so-called hard Brexit.
In April this year Norway and the UK signed Brexit-agreements which secure rights for Norwegian citizens in the United Kingdom and ensure continued trade between the two countries, in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement.
