Autumn Conference 2026

Norwegian

Time: Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September 2026.
Venue: Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, 0167 Oslo.
Price: Full conference: NOK 300; NOK 200 per day, payable to Vipps number 53651.
Registration: https://tinyurl.com/2u9xdm2h or lill.fanny.saether@gmail.com by 20. September.

The conference is open to everyone.

Programme:

What Is the Reality of Today’s EU?

Saturday 26 September

Conference Programme – Day 1

The EU as a System of Power

Time: 10:00–17:00

10:00–10:10 – Introduction, by Ole Kristian Setnes, Chair of Oslo No to the EU


A brief opening of the conference and presentation of the day’s main question: the EU as a system of power. To what extent do political centralisation, market forces, lobbying, sanctions and geopolitics contribute to weakening freedom of expression, people’s rule, industry, the welfare state and national sovereignty?

Part 1: Freedom of Expression, Lobbying and the Concentration of Power in the EU

Chair: Ingunn Gjerstad, Chair of LO in Oslo
10:10–10:40 – Lawyer Alexandra Hofer
Individual EU Sanctions: Legal Safeguards, Freedom of Expression and Deterrence

Alexandra Hofer opens the conference with an analysis of the EU’s individual sanctions against private persons. She discusses how measures such as frozen bank accounts, travel bans, loss of income opportunities and social stigmatisation can have consequences far beyond the person directly affected. The talk examines whether such sanctions can have a deterrent effect on public debate: when the personal, financial and practical consequences become severe enough, people may refrain from speaking out, taking part in public debate or challenging dominant political narratives.

Talk: 20 minutes | Questions: 10 minutes

10:40–11:20 – Lawyer Morten Harper
The Concentration of Power in the European Commission and the Democratic Deficit

Morten Harper presents a broad democratic analysis of the EU. He explains how power is transferred from national parliaments and elected bodies to the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Council of the European Union and other supranational structures. He emphasises the European Commission’s monopoly on initiating legislation, while the European Parliament, although directly elected, cannot adopt legislation on its own. Power rests largely with the Commission, the Council and the Court, which Harper argues are not directly accountable to voters.

Talk: 30 minutes | Questions: 10 minutes

11:20–12:00 – Researcher, Kenneth Haar
Lobbying and Power in Brussels: Who Shapes EU Policy?

Kenneth Haar presents an analysis of power relations within the EU system. He reveals how large corporations, financial actors, industry associations and professional lobbyists gain access to decision-making processes in Brussels. The talk explains how EU policy is shaped at the intersection of the Commission, expert groups, corporate interests and the governments of the Member States. This provides a concrete approach to the question of how democratic the EU really is when important decisions are made far from public debate.

Talk: 30 minutes | Questions: 10 minutes

12:00–12:50 – Lunch Break
12:50–13:40 – Panel Discussion, Moderator: Ingunn Gjerstad, Chair of LO in Oslo
Is the EU the Last Bastion of Liberal Values and Democracy, or Is This a Social Facade?

Basis for the discussion:
The EU is often portrayed as Europe’s democratic defence against a world dominated by authoritarian great powers and an increasingly unstable United States. But is the EU truly a bastion of liberal values, or are we also seeing a development in a more technocratic, centralised and less democratic direction?

The discussion will examine the EU’s democratic deficit, the power structures in Brussels, and how political centralisation, lobbying, sanctions and the EEA system are affecting popular democracy, freedom of expression and national sovereignty. The aim is to make the EU’s major structural problems understandable and relevant to a wider public.

Part 2: Energy, Raw Materials, Industry, the Welfare State and Sovereignty

Session Chair: Merete Furuberg, Former Chair of the Norwegian Farmers’ and Smallholders’ Association
13:40–14:20 – Historian, Idar Helle
Deindustrialisation: The EU’s Economic Crisis, Social Structure and the Weakening of the Welfare State

Idar Helle analyses the EU’s industrial and social development. He discusses how deindustrialisation, high energy prices, competition policy and pressure on working life undermine the foundations of the European welfare state. The talk addresses how industry is not only about production, but also about jobs, trade unions, tax revenue, social equality and political power. When industry is weakened, the social structure of society also changes.

Talk: 30 minutes | Questions: 10 minutes

14:20–15:00 – Special Adviser, Helene Bank
The EU and the Struggle for Raw Materials: Sovereignty, International Law and Norway as a Raw-Material Supplier

Helene Bank discusses how the EU uses trade policy, investment agreements, market access and strategic partnerships to secure access to raw materials, energy, data and markets. Bank connects this to national sovereignty and international law: What political space to manoeuvre do countries have to govern their own natural resources, build industry and protect public services? She also raises the question of whether Norway risks being reduced to a supplier of raw materials to larger superpowers, rather than using its own resources for national industry, preparedness and welfare.

Talk: 30 minutes | Questions: 10 minutes

15:00–15:20 – Break
15:20–16:00 – Reseacher, Kenneth Haar
The EU’s Competition State: The Draghi Report, Deregulation and Pressure on the Welfare State

Kenneth Haar analyses the EU’s new economic direction. On the basis of the Draghi report, the EU’s competitiveness agenda, he analyses the push for greater deregulation, capital mobilisation, a defence industry and industrial-policy restructuring. The talk discusses whether the EU is attempting to rescue its economic model by returning to more market-liberal instruments: less regulation, stronger competitive pressure, greater power for the financial capital, and higher priority for strategic industry and military capacity.

Talk: 30 minutes | Questions: 10 minutes

16:00–16:50 – Panel Discussion, Moderator: Ingunn Gjerstad, Chair of LO in Oslo
From Welfare State to Competition State towards a Deindustrialised State: What Is Happening to Europe’s Economic and Social Model?

The narrative promoted by the political right is that the EU is the saviour for Norwegian industry. The arguments used include market access, support schemes, energy collaboration through the EU’s Energy Union and research cooperation. But many now argue that the EU is undergoing a process of deindustrialisation that will be difficult to reverse. One of the pillars of EU’s economic model since 1945 was access to cheap energy. That access is no longer available.

The conference will explore the reality regarding this important issue.

Possible Main Questions:

16:50–17:00 – Closing

A Brief Summary of the Main Themes From the First Day of the Conference.

Day 1 has examined the EU as a system of power: democracy, sanctions, lobbying, industry, economy and sovereignty. Day 2 moves on to EU’s deeper crisis: geopolitical alignment, military build-up, deindustrialisation, cultural fragmentation, it discusses international law and the future of the nation states.

Ends at 17:00

Sunday 27 September

Conference Programme – Day 2

EU after the Social Compromise: From Welfare State to Military Economy?

Time: 12:00–18:00

Session Chair: Merete Furuberg, Former Chair of the Norwegian Farmers’ and Smallholders’ Association
12:00–12:10 – Introduction, by Ole Kristian Setnes, Chair of Oslo No to the EU

Opening of the Conference. A brief presentation of the Day’s Main Questions:

Is the EU moving from a welfare-based peace project towards a militarised crisis union – and what does this mean for small states, the democracy, the industry, the welfare state and national sovereignty?

12:10–12:40 – Researcher, Pascal Lottaz
The EU’s Geopolitical Trap: Between Dependence on the United States, NATO Logic and Lost Neutrality

Pascal Lottaz opens the conference day 2 with the geopolitical backdrop. He discusses Europe’s loss of strategic independence, the narrowing space for neutrality and diplomacy, and how small states are drawn into superpowers’ bloc politics. The talk asks whether Europe is actually becoming more sovereign. Lottaz argues that European leaders do not think independently enough but largely follow a course set «from across the Atlantic». In his writings he has elaborated how the populations of Finland, Sweden and Norway are being mentally prepared for a possible war, and he connects this to a broader NATO-led military build-up and to the EU’s confrontational course.

Talk: 20 minutes | Questions: 10 minutes

12:40–13:10 – Author, Fabian Scheidler
From Welfare to Warfare: Military Build-up as the Basis for Politics, the Economy and Public Culture

Fabian Scheidler shows how the military build-up is not only about defence budgets, but also about a broader transformation of society. He discusses how the economy, the industry, media, the education sector, the political language and the public debate are increasingly organised around war preparedness and rearmament. The talk connects Germany’s rearmament debate to the wider development of the EU towards a defence and war economy. His argument is that Germany’s political class has normalised rearmament, increased defence spending and redefined military strength as a central instrument of state policy. He sees this as a break with the post-war image of German restraint, and argues that Germany’s turn towards military build-up as a new fundamental core of the German economy is embedded in a broader shift in the EU.

Talk: 30 minutes | Questions: 10 minutes

13:10–14:10 – Philosopher, Arne Overrein
Can a Culturally Fragmented Union of Nation States Become a Democracy? The EU, Sovereignty and International Law

Arne Overrein summarises the preceding talks, places their content in a broader context, and connects it to the deeper political and principled question: can the EU develop democratic legitimacy without a European political community, a shared public sphere and a common political culture? The talk discusses the EU as an association of nation states and shows how cultural and political fragmentation has consequences for national sovereignty, popular democracy and international law. Overrein connects this to the question of the nation state as the historical framework for democratic rights, social compromise and international law.

Talk: 50 minutes | Questions: 10 minutes

14:10–15:00 – Break
15:00–15:50 – Professor, Rune Skarstein
The Economic Foundations Are Breaking: German Deindustrialisation and the Dismantling of the EU’s Welfare Model

Rune Skarstein presents an economic and material analysis of the EU’s crisis. He discusses how the EU’s former economic model rested on German industry, cheap energy, export strength, global value chains and internal wage restraint. This model is now under pressure from high energy costs, geopolitical conflict, competition from the United States and China, weak productivity growth and industrial decline. The talk shows how the weakening of industry also undermines the foundations of Europe’s welfare states.

Talk: 40 minutes | Questions: 10 minutes

15:50–16:20 – Break
16:20–17:30 – Panel Discussion
Is the EU Moving from a Welfare Project to a Fragmented Project and Onwards to a Militarised Crisis Union?

All Speakers Will Come Together for a Joint Discussion of the Day’s Main Themes.

Has the EU changed from a project for diplomacy, trade and peaceful conflict resolution into a more ideological and bloc-aligned actor? Is the EU characterized by a mindset in which diplomacy, negotiations and international law are given lower priority in favour of moral rhetoric and a hard confrontational line? Is Germany’s turn towards military build-up mirrored by a broader shift in the EU, in which the Union increasingly defines itself through strategic autonomy and a harder projection of power outwardly? What influence and interests do the large private lobbying organisations in Brussels have in this context? Is the EU a system that weakens political leaders and catch them in the dynamics of the system? Did the EU’s eastward enlargement in the 2000s lay the foundations for multiple centres of power and cultural and historical conflict lines in Europe, and does this influence the policies now being pursued?

Possible Main Questions:

17:30–17:50 – Questions and Comments From the Audience, Chaired by Research Director Isak Lekve

Open Session with Questions from the Audience

17:50–18:00 – Closing

A Brief Summary of the Conference’s Main Themes and Concluding Remarks