According to a new poll by research institute Sentio published on Monday, the opposition to joining the European Union is still strong.

About 41.8 per cent were in favor of beginning negotiations to join the EU bloc, while 48.2 per cent were against it and some 10 per cent of those questioned were undecided about the matter.
The results of another poll conducted in May were quite similar.

In the early 1960s, Norway applied for membership in the Treaty of Rome when the United Kingdom asked to join. When France rebuffed the UK's application, Norway withdrew. This happened twice.

Norway completed its negotiations for the terms to govern a Norwegian membership in the European Community on January 22, 1972. Following an overwhelming majority in favor of joining the EC in early 1972, the government decided to put the question to a popular referendum, scheduled for September 24 and 25. The result was that 53.5% voted against membership and 46.5% for it.

The Norwegian Labour Party government led by Trygve Bratteli resigned over the outcome of the referendum, and a coalition government led by Lars Korvald took over.
Norway entered into a trade agreement with the community following the outcome of the referendum. That trade agreement remained in force until Norway joined the European Economic Area in 1994.

On November 28, 1994, yet another referendum was held, narrowing the margin but yielding the same result: 52.2% opposed membership and 47.8% in favor.

Norway is the only Scandinavian country that is not a member of the European Union and there are currently no plans to file another application.