– The importation of seafood products from countries geographically closer to the EU, and therefore more climate-friendly, must be facilitated, believes the Secretary of State.

Fall into poor soil

But the Norwegian arguments apparently do not rest on bad ground within the EU.

As long as Norway behaves like a tyrant when it comes to fisheries policy, it can forget that the EU is opening its doors more to Norwegian seafood, reacted several of those who spoke after taking office by Ulriksen.

– As long as we cannot resolve the problems of fisheries policy, I do not see a solution to this issue, said one of them.

Ulriksen says Norway has a strong fisheries policy and believes that the two things – fisheries policy and seafood – cannot be linked.

– We are not going down that path. They can log in as much as they want. We are not part of this connection, he said.

Quarrels over quotas

For years, Norway and the EU have argued over how quotas for mackerel and cod, among others, should be distributed. Recently, the European Fisheries Commissioner accused Norway of overfishing mackerel because it had increased quotas.

Norwegian authorities, for their part, believe that the fact that there are more mackerel swimming in Norwegian maritime areas than before gives them the right to fish more.

In October, negotiations on quotas for 2024 will begin between the so-called coastal states – Norway, the EU, Great Britain, Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

The negotiations are expected to be difficult, Swedish Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Peter Kullgren told NTB.

– But I hope we won’t spend as much time as last time, he said.

During the negotiations for 2023, the parties took six months to reach – partially – an agreement.

(BNT)