(This debate post was first published in the Altinget, with which ABC Nyheter has a collaboration).
It is heading towards the presidential election campaign in Washington. Every day we are overwhelmed by endless reports from Norwegian media, commentators and podcasts with more or less interesting news about Trump’s court cases and how many stairs and words Biden has tripped over. At the same time, the most important election campaign for us Norwegians takes place in Europe.
In June 2024, elections will be held for the parliament of the European Union (EU). Around 373 million Europeans are expected to vote for their national representatives to Europe’s most important legislative body. Together with the Council of the European Union, the parliament adopts laws that are also of great importance to Norway. Through the EEA agreement and as a participant in the Schengen cooperation, we must incorporate much of the EU’s legislation into our national laws. In addition, Norway is connected to the EU through a number of agreements that make us close partners in important areas. This was also well illustrated by the government’s EEA committee which came out with its report recently.
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Altinget.no is Norway’s first purely political online newspaper. With 28 niche media in Denmark and 11 in Sweden, the Altinget is already an established media house in the Nordics. The aim is to increase understanding of national and European politics through niche journalism of high quality – with a neutral starting point.
Nevertheless, there is relatively little attention paid to the elections in June, neither in the media nor among the general public. The Norwegian media is filled with stories about two geriatric gentlemen who will fight for the oval office space in the White House. There is more interest in Trump’s lawsuits and scandalous behavior than the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who promotes progressive policies to deal with the great challenges of our time in Europe.
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Norwegian media are failing
While the EU agrees on reforms in migration policy and works to make Europe climate neutral as well as initiate better regulation of artificial intelligence and digital services, the US Congress has barely managed to agree to finance the federal authorities – but only until October. Admittedly, there was a last-minute agreement in Congress on support for Ukraine, but how long this will last with a possible Trump 2.0 is highly uncertain.
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Nevertheless, there are stories about the political chaos that prevails in the United States that are marketable among the Norwegian population. The paradox is that the election in the USA has much less to say for the Norwegian economy and social development than the election to the EU Parliament. Nevertheless, the number of self-proclaimed US experts is greater than EU experts. And Norwegians know more about Speaker Mike Johnson in the House of Representatives in Washington than who holds the club in the EU Parliament. This is where the Norwegian media fundamentally fail.
If we can strengthen our collective knowledge of what the EU is, we can also have better debates that are less driven by emotion.
Nor do Norwegian politicians seem to be particularly interested in Europe’s most important elections. Little is said about the political currents in the EU, probably because it is a conflict-filled issue that divides their voters. As if speaking factually about the EU is in itself dangerous. When we talk about the EU at all, it is indirectly, about the EEA agreement, electricity prices and your own wallet.
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Public information about the EU
Instead of looking outwards, we in Norway are mostly concerned with looking inwards. To understand how the EU affects us, we therefore need to have more visibility. We simply need more public information about the EU. And here NRK has to step in as the national broadcaster. We desperately need a “foreseeer” (sic) who can contribute to strengthening our overview of – and understanding of – the European institutions that affect our everyday life the most.
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The overseer (or woman) could, for example, begin by explaining that the EU is not a single entity, but a democratic gathering place where political compromises are made between 27 member states. Important legislation is hammered out through interaction and negotiations between Parliament, the Council and the Commission. With this as a factual basis, one could gradually go through the role of the various agencies, such as eu-LISA, which gradually strengthens Europe’s security by developing massive information systems.
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Secondly, the supervisor could explain how the EU is important for preserving Europe as a liberal democratic continent. Unfortunately, there are some European countries where authoritarian features and illiberal currents have a foothold, such as Hungary, Slovakia and Poland, but the EU’s democratic core values have managed to keep these in check.
If we can strengthen our collective knowledge of what the EU is, we can also have better debates that are less driven by emotion. For that we need a Bård Tufte Johansen, who can make good and easy-to-understand infotainment about the difference between the EU Parliament, the Council and the Commission.
It is probably too early to get the supervisor on the air before the election in June. Let’s hope that the Norwegian EU discussion is more enlightened before the next general election in five years.
(Voices is ABC Nyheter’s debate section. Regular and occasional contributors write here about topical news topics. We also have a collaboration with the political online newspaper Altinget.no. If you are burning with an opinion or analysis, you can send the text to [email protected], then we will evaluate it).
