The 26th EU-Norway Interparliamentary Meeting was held in Oslo today. The Norwegian delegation, which was led by its chairperson Ms Ine Marie ERIKSEN SØREIDE (Conservative Party), hosted the meeting with the European Parliament delegation led by Mr Indrek TARAND (Greens/European Free Alliance, Estonia).

The topics of the meeting were:

• The implications of the Lisbon Treaty (with addresses by and exchanges of views with Mr Erik LAHNSTEIN, State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Mr János HERMAN, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Norway);
  
  
• The European Economic Area and the future EU-Norway relations, incl. the parliamentary dimension;
  
  
• Cooperation in the Arctic Region;
  
  
• The financial crisis and "Europe 2020" strategy;

Both delegations have agreed that the changes introduced by the EU´s Lisbon Treaty, including new powers granted to the EP, have provided for a new impetus for intensifying of bilateral parliamentary relations between the two parliaments.

The next Interparliamentary Meeting is scheduled to take place in 2011 at one of the venues of the European Parliament.

 

Members of Stortinget present:
Ms Ine Eriksen SØREIDE , Conservative Party (Chairperson)
Mr Svein Roald HANSEN, Labour Party (Vice Chair)
Ms Eva Kristin HANSEN, Labour Party
Ms Laila GUSTAVSEN, Labour Party
Mr Sverre MYRLI, Labour Party
Mr Peter N. MYHRE, Progress Party
Ms Karin WOLDSETH, Progress Party

Members of the European Parliament present:

Mr Indrek TARAND, Greens/EFA, Estonia (Acting Chairperson)
Mr Petru LUHAN, EPP, Romania
Mr Richard James ASHWORTH, ECR, United Kingdom
Ms Sabine WILS, GUE/ NGL, Germany

For further information please contact:

Michal MALOVEC
European Parliament
Tel. 00 32 2 283 2241
E-mail: michal.malovec@europarl.europa.eu

Øystein BØ
Stortinget (Norwegian Parliament)
Tel. 00 47 23 31 35 13
Mob. 00 47 90 10 47 20
E-mail: oyb@stortinget.no