I would first like to welcome the delegation of Norway led by Ms Ragnhild Sjoner Syrstad, State Secretary, Ministry of Trade, Industries and Fisheries. I would also like to thank the Secretariat and the Norwegian Government for the particularly clear and comprehensive reports as well as the Discussant, H.E Ambassador H.E. Dr. Mzukisi QOBO (South Africa) for his pertinent remarks.

First, I would like to highlight the strong resilience of the Norwegian economy and praise its forward-looking policy of investing revenues collected from oil and gas exports into a government Fund. Since the last Trade Policy Review in 2018, Norway saw a limited decline during COVID compared to other OECD countries and quickly recovered in 2021, although growth in the last years has been more subdued. Consistently low unemployment and, more recently, disinflation and real wage increases, despite the hike in the interest rate following the pandemic, suggest that the Norwegian economy is in good health. Norway remains a reliable and important pillar of the European Union's energy security. 

Second, I would like to emphasize the coherence of Norway’s policy in support of free trade in general terms: internally, Norway deploys many policy instruments to support the expansion and dynamism of Norwegian companies. Internationally, Norway is a strong supporter of multilateralism and WTO and an important ally of the European Union in many of its trade policy - and often also foreign policy - objectives. 

In this context, I would like to say a few words about the valuable contribution that Norway has made to this organization. As a friend of the system and member of the Ottawa Group, Norway has contributed to addressing specific challenges putting the multilateral trading system under stress. We also thank Norway for playing a very constructive and active role in all the different work streams of the WTO and notably the excellent contribution of my dear colleague, Ambassador, Petter Ølberg, in his role as the former chairperson of the General Council and now more recently as newly appointed facilitator for WTO reform. 

Finally, let me emphasize the very special and stable relationship between the EU and Norway. We are strong trading partners: the EU is Norway’s first trading partner and Norway is the EU's 6^th largest trading partner, just after Japan. It is with Norway that we have signed one of our first FTAs, back in 1972. This agreement has been in practice superseded in many respects by the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). Institutionally, through the EEA agreement, Norway is as closely linked to the EU's Internal Market as a third country can be. The fact that Norway takes over the EU's internal market legislation requires important administrative efforts and political commitment from Norway. But, in return, Norwegian companies enjoy access to the internal market at the same conditions as the EU companies, in the areas covered by the EEA agreement. A level-playing field is ensured also through common rules regarding competition, state aid and government procurement, while uniform interpretation of the rules is guaranteed via the two-pillar structure of the EEA. 

However - and there must by a “however” in this overall very positive picture - there is always room to strengthen further our trade relations. To this end, we have presented a number of questions related to Norway’s agricultural policy such as regarding the consequences of the high tariffs applied to a range of agricultural products and on fisheries regarding the prohibition of exports of certain fish products. We thank Norway for the timely replies. 

On behalf of the EU, I look forward to a constructive exchange and wish Norway a very successful 8^th Trade Policy Review.