Arne O. Holm says We Are in a Squeeze Between the EU and Russia
Fisheries Minister Marianne Sivertsen Næss tells High North News that the situation is demanding and that efforts are being made to arrange a meeting of the Joint Norwegian-Russian Fisheries Commission. (Photo: Trine Jonassen)
Comment: The Northern Norwegian business sector is in a double bind. The fisheries negotiations with Russia are at a standstill, while cod quotas are continuing to decrease. The EU is closing its doors on the ferroalloy industry. In total, this impacts thousands of jobs in the North.
This is a comment written by a member of the editorial staff. All views expressed are the writer's own.
The EU has made its decision to impose safeguard measures on ferroalloys, a decision that impacts parts of the Northern Norwegian export industry at its core.
That is, cornerstone businesses that produce and export ferroalloys to the European market. Between 70 and 90 percent of several of the companies' production goes to Europe.
Throttled imports
It is this export, or import, from the EU's perspective, that is being throttled. An admittedly complicated system, whose obvious purpose is to protect the EU countries' own production anyway.
The EEA agreement is of no help to Norway, nor to Iceland, which is also affected by the measures. Together, Iceland and Norway account for nearly half of the total EU market for these products.
Meanwhile, protectionist forces within the EU are gaining strength, strongly inspired by Donald Trump. At the same time, a long line of European countries has begun negotiations to join the Union.
A long line of countries wanting to enter the EU.
Most notably Ukraine, but a total of ten other countries are also knocking on the EU's door.
The first step on the way is to get inside the EU's tariff barrier, to the so-called inner market. A market that is constantly expanding. Or in other words:
More and more European countries want to exclude Norway to protect their own industries. Finding new markets is already difficult, but it will only become worse in the future.
Impacts local communities
In the North, businesses — and therefore also local communities — will be impacted. This includes Rana, Mosjøen, and Sørfold, where Elkem operates. Rana is also home to Ferroglobe, and Finnfjord in Senja is likewise affected by the new tariffs.
This coincides with existing worries along the coast due to low and still declining cod quotas that are creating major problems for the land-based fishery industry.
Negotiations have barely begun, despite being long overdue.
On top of this, Norway and Russia have still not reached a new fisheries agreement. Negotiations have barely begun, despite being long overdue. As reported, the delay stems from EU and Norwegian sanctions against two Russian trawler companies.
Russia has made it clear, both legally and politically, that these sanctions jeopardize this year’s fisheries agreement. If no agreement is reached, it would mark an unprecedented break in the long-standing fisheries cooperation between Norway and Russia.
A cooperation that regulates fishing in one of the world's largest food sources.
The bedrock in the North, both along the coast and on land, is being shaken at a time when the Armed Forces, the government and the parliament are screaming their heads off about the importance of viable communities in the North.
