I am no threat to the nation

This is becoming old news but happy news none the less. I have got my security clearance last Thursday. I consider this to be my last hurdle and with this out if the way I see no reason why I should not be going to Oslo. I got an e-mail from the Danish ambassador in Oslo with the decision of Danish Security and Intelligence Service/Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark/SIK. This e-mail I have forwarded to the International Office at Aalborg University since they consider the security clearance a confirmation of the internship. I am very happy about this development even though some friends on Facebook were arguing that giving me a security clearance must be a mistake. :-)

Turist

On the third day in Berlin we went sightseeing, starting at The Fernsehturm where we about 204 meters up had great view over Berlin. Then we went to The Reichstag where we were not able to enter, because of the fear of terrorism you have to order tickets in advance. After The Reichstag we went to the Brandenburger Tor then to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe before the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie. We ended the day at Alexa Shopping Center which had more or less the same shops as Aalborg city.

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Computer nostalgia

Second day in Berlin was spent on a short visit to the gourmet department of Galeria Kaufhof where my mouth water was dripping all over the culinary specialties from around the world.  After Galeria Kaufhof we had a small walk in the area around Alexanderplatz before my family went to the Berliner Dom and I went to the Computerspielemuseum. The Computerspielemuseum was interesting especially interesting was it to see all the different video game consoles that has been made since 1979, but it was a bit small and I would have liked the opportunity to interact more with the machines and the games.

A zoological experience

The first day in Berlin we spend in Berlin Zoological Garden, this was also the first real test for my new camera (more about that at my other blog). The trip to the zoo was very nice and Berlin Zoological Garden is very big when you are used to Aalborg Zoo the only regret about the trip was that I only brought a very light jacket which was not really sufficient since it was a bit cold. For dinner that day we picked up Indian food at the Taj Mahal India (www.tajmahalindia.de) which cannot be recommended since the food was unfortunately close to tasteless.

A Trip to Berlin

Last Monday I went to Berlin. My mother and her husband had rented an apartment in Richard-Sorge-Straβe in East Berlin so my sister and I went to spend a few days with them there. Due to being very late at deciding to go and being a bit cheap we decided to go by bus. The bus leaves from Aarhus and not Aalborg so I had to leave Aalborg by train at 06:01 to be in Aarhus for the bus at 08:00, on 09:35 the bus arrived in Kolding and we picked up my sister and on 17:00 we arrived in at Berlin ZOB. The trip was very comfortable with tables and power outlets for our computers and the price was also very reasonable for students 450kr (60,35 Euro) for a one-way ticket or 810kr (108,62) for a return ticket. If you are planning to go to Berlin from Jutland I can easily recommend Abildskou, more information can be found at http://www.abildskou.dk.

Zagreb

When I applied for the internship at the Danish Embassy in Oslo I also send out applications for a few other internships among them the political/economic department at the Danish Embassy in Zagreb. Two days ago I then received a rejection of my application, but apparently they do not think that I am completely useless because they asked me to consider an internship in their trade department.  Obviously I am very happy having got the internship at the Danish Embassy in Oslo and I would not trade that for the position in Zagreb not least because I will rather be an intern in a political-economic department than in a trade department. There is though especially one thing that I do find particularly interesting about the position in Zagreb and that is that the internship is 12 instead of the normal 6 months. I can imagine that spending the double amount of time on an internship could be very beneficial for both the intern and the embassy. Anyways it is always a nice feeling to get a somewhat positive response to an application.

The breakdown of fax-democracy?

Are we seeing the breakdown of fax-democracy and what will be the future for European Union (EU)-Norway relations? On the 2^nd of May 1992 the members of European Free Trade Association (EFTA) (among them Norway), the European Community (EC) and the members of the EC signed the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement. The EEA agreements is based on the same four principles or freedoms as the EC – the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital among EEA countries. This means that EFTA countries that are part of the EEA enjoy free trade with the EU. But the agreement also gives the EEA countries some obligations. The EEA countries have to adopt EU law in the areas of social policy, consumer policy, environment, company law and statistics but since the EEA countries have no representation in the EU institutions in Brussels they have very little influence on the legislation that they have to adopt. This situation is sometimes called a fax-democracy where the Norwegian parliament (Stortinget) is just waiting for the latest legislation being faxed from the European Commission. The EEA countries also have the obligation to contribute to the reduction of economic and social disparities in the EEA trough the EEA and Norway Grants. According to the EEA Grants 2009-14 agreement the EEA Grants are at 197.7 million Euro a year and the EEA countries contribute according to size and financial strength. Since Norway is by far the largest of the three countries (Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein) they provide 95% of the grants. On top of that there is the Norway Grants that is another 160 million Euro paid by Norway annually. These contributions should be seen in connection with the fact that EEA countries cannot receive any funding from neither EU policies nor development funds.

On the 10^th of April the Norwegian Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) held there 63. national convention, among other controversial topics was the EU directive “3^rd Postal Service Directive” (3PSD). Even though the party leaders supported the directive they did not get the support for the directive from the national convention. This means that all three of the parties in the Norwegian government coalition are against the directive and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said that the Norwegian government will demand changes to the negotiations with the EU and that if the demands of the Norwegian government are not met they will make use of the reservation right in the EEA, that grants right to reserve itself against the transposition and implementation of any EU directive. If Norway makes use of the reservation right this will be the first time in history that an EEA country refuses to implement EU law. Now if that happens what is going to be the response of the EU? The EEA agreement gives the EU the right to suspend the whole or part of the EEA this could for Norway have an enormous impact since 80.3% of all Norwegian exports go to the EEA-area and that this accounts for 25.8% of the national budget. Will the EU be using that right? According to Erik Dale (Norwegian blogger and assistant to Paal Frisvold) the short answer will be that the EU has to. If the EU let a Norwegian reservation go unnoticed it will set a precedence for future reservations, and the EU regards the 3PSD as a central step in the completion of the common market and cannot let a small non-member reserve itself against such a central part. So what will be the outcome of this crisis? Again according to Erik Dale there seems to be two options that start with Norway breaking up with the EEA and leaving EFTA and thereafter either becomes a full member of the EU or become a single partner in a dynamic agreement with the EU.

The leader of the Norwegian Europa Movement Paal Frisvold has said in connection to this crisis that he is looking forward to it and that when Norwegians find out what the EEA really is about then they will not put up with it and he thinks that eventually this crisis will strengthen the EU membership positive side in Norway.

All in all this seems like it could be the breakdown of fax-democracy, and the prospects of future EU-Norwegian relations seem very interesting.

Sources:
http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/norge/1.7599245

http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/norge/1.7588168

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/oct2007/gb2007103_555190.htm

http://eurodale.eu/2011/04/11/an-era-ends-for-the-efta-and-the-eea/

http://www.jasiden.no

http://www.wikipedia.org/