OSLO (Reuters) -Norway’s Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum said on Thursday that he and his eurosceptic Centre Party would resign from government due to a disagreement with coalition partner Labour over the adoption of European Union energy policies.
The Centre Party, in government since 2021, holds eight seats in Norway’s 20-person cabinet, including the finance minister, the defence minister and the minister of justice and public security, while Labour has the remaining 12 posts.
Labour, which has said Norway must maintain good relations with the EU given the threat of a trade war between Europe and the United States, could now rule alone in a minority government until elections in September.
Labour wants EU outsider Norway to adopt union directives on renewable energy consumption, on energy performance in buildings and on increased overall energy efficiency, government ministers have said.
The Centre Party opposes all three directives, which it says will erode Norwegian autonomy, and has long maintained that power and gas exporter Norway should instead seek to reclaim authority over regulation from the EU.
“The conclusion for us is that the Centre Party does not want to be part of this development,” Vedum told a press conference.
Norway’s two-party centre-left minority government is lagging right-wing parties in opinion polls ahead of the parliamentary elections later this year.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Gwladys Fouche)
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