WTO negotiations and the changing framework conditions for Norwegian agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture

Norway faces a number of challenges in WTO negotiations. Norwegian negotiating positions are based on what we may call a triangle of partly conflicting and partly compatible interests and concerns. (a) Norway has defensive interests with regard to agricul ture. Due to harsh conditions and non-trade concerns Norway wants protection for agriculture. (b) Norway has offensive interests with regard to industrial products including fish and fish products, and wants market access and trade liberalisation for such products. (c) Norway is concerned with the problems of the third world and wants to strengthen the image of a nation concerned about the future of the developing world and engaged in humanitarian and development aid. Norway is positioned close to the one extreme in agriculture, opposing trade liberalisation. In NAMA, Norway is close to the opposite end of the liberalisation-protection continuum. The overarching task is to analyse how these interests and concerns can be handled. WTO negotiations are extre mely complicated. A very large number of parties - almost 150 countries - are negotiating on a broad range of issues with important consequences for various sectors and industries. No single, clear-cut theory can capture the complexity of these negotiatio ns. The study will draw on various theoretical perspectives on two-level games and win sets, coalition building at national and international levels, and issue-linkages. Research methods include document analyses, interviews and participant observations.