Abstract
During a speech in Birmingham in 1904, British politician Joseph Chamberlain said: "The day of small nations has long passed away. The day of Empires has come". Although pronounced a century ago, these words could still apply to the European integration today, and reflect Europe's move since the 1950s toward a unified European continent. However, when applied to Norway, a small country that has twice, in 1972 and 1994, rejected the EU-membership, Chamberlain's words seem to be contested. It would be interesting to analyze Norway's relations with the EU, as these are issues of high importance in today's increasingly unified Europe. Norway has been an independent constitutional monarchy since 1905. It has a parliamentary system of government, and thus the function of the King, Harald V, is mostly ceremonial. The country is situated in Northern Europe and occupies the Western part of the Scandinavian Peninsula. It has borders with Sweden, Finland and Russia, while the UK and the Faroe Islands lie to its west across the North Sea.
