When two become three: autonomy and wriggle room in Norwegian fisheries policy before and after Brexit

Fisheries has been a contested issue in Norway’s EU relations since the first "no to Norwegian membership" in a referendum in 1972. Norway wanted, as a non-member in the EU, to have control over fish stocks in Norwegian waters and autonomy to implement its own fisheries policies based on domestic concerns. However, new international agreements, such as the International Law of the Sea and the EEA agreement have tied Norway and the EU closer together in both fisheries and related policy areas. Thus, this paper puts fisheries issues into a larger context, also focusing on adjacent areas such as trade in seafood, regulations for sanitary and phytosanitary measures (often referred to as SPS rules) and EFTA funding for regional development in the EU. Brexit has complicated the relationship further. The UK was as an EU member subordinated EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), and the relationship to Norway was regulated by the above mentioned agreements. Brexit and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement means that the UK have taken back some control over fisheries and adjacent areas but not all issues related to fisheries and trade in seafood have been finally settled. Furthermore, the UK and Norway has signed bilateral agreements in fisheries and trade which further complicates the tripartite cooperation in these areas. Thus, this paper asks what this increased complexity means for Norway’s autonomy and wriggle room in fisheries and related policy areas. Theoretically, the paper builds on the concepts of autonomy and wriggle room described in the introduction to the panel. Fisheries, seafood trade, autonomy and wriggle room, Norway-EU-UK relations.