ABSTRACT
Figure 9.1 Opinions from the Nordic member states on the EU and the Internal Market (source: Special Eurobarometer 363, 2011).
Market, one must therefore either turn to general studies of Single Market policies (e.g. Egan 2010; Nedergaard 2009) or single country studies, of which only a few exist, such as Berg and Spehar’s (2013) explanation of why Sweden supports increased labour mobility within and from outside the EU. Specific Internal Market policies, such as the EU’s attempt to liberalise services, have received more attention, often with the inclusion of one or more of the Nordic member states as part of the study (Menz 2010). Sweden and Denmark have been highlighted as part of the coalition against full liberalisation due to their high barriers to foreign service companies, which make the national service companies vulnerable to foreign competition (Nedergaard 2009: 68). Another example is the market for financial services, which can be analysed from a North-South perspective with the Nordic countries pertaining to a coalition embracing market liberalisation and competition-friendly policies (Quaglia 2010). Otherwise, there would appear to be a bias towards social policy when scholars deal with the Nordic countries in an Internal Market context (e.g. Sapir 2006). This ‘bias’ is illustrated by Kvist (2004), who addresses the consequences of EU enlargement and the risk of a race to the bottom in the area of social policy, as well as Cremers et al. (2007), who explain how national labour market regulation influences and challenges the implementation of the Posting of Workers Directive. Other perspectives on the Single Market include Howarth and Sadeh (2010), who deal with differentiated integration in the completion of the Single Market, and Bygvrå (1998), who uses a study of cross-border shopping between Denmark and Germany to explain the history of the Single European Market. In sum, however, there is almost a blank spot when it comes to writing the story of the Nordic countries and the Internal Market. The present analysis is presented chronologically in six main phases, each corresponding to a decade.2 First, the responses to the launch of European integration in the 1950s are examined. Second, we examine the Danish and Norwegian applications for membership of the European Community as well as the establishment of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in the 1960s. Third, the chapter focuses on the enlargement with Denmark in the 1970s and the expansion of the free trade area. Fourth, the chapter turns to the 1980s and the Single European Act together with the agreement on the European Economic Area. Fifth, the expansion of the Single Market with the common currency and the accession of Sweden and Finland in the 1990s is scrutinised. Sixth, the chapter studies the Nordic states and the Single Market in the new millennium with a special focus on the highly controversial Services Directive. After this tour de l’histoire, the chapter closes with discussion of the picture emerging from the more than 50 years of interaction between the Nordic states and the Single Market.
