Past Event

Centre for European Studies – European integration without EU membership: The different paths of Norway and Switzerland

Norway and Switzerland have developed distinctive legal, economic, and political relationships with the European Union (EU), having rejected full EU membership. How have these arrangements worked for the two countries? What are their benefits and costs? Do they provide an alternative for EU member states whose population is concerned about the loss of sovereignty to Brussels, such as the United Kingdom? Can they be a model for countries that have not been given an explicit EU membership perspective, such as Ukraine?

The Ambassadors of Norway and Switzerland will reflect on their alternative relationships with the European Union.  Discussion will be moderated by Achim Hurrelmann, Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of CES.

H.E. Mona Elisabeth Brøther was appointed Norwegian ambassador to Canada in September 2012.  Mona E. Brøther studied at the University of Oslo and holds degrees in history, Spanish and political science.  She joined the foreign service of Norway in 1979 and has had a number of postings abroad, most recently as ambassador to Chile (2000-2005) and ambassador to Venezuela (2008-2009).  Her main area of work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been within information and cultural promotion, but she has also been involved in the Norwegian Agenda on Sustainable Development since the Brundtland report of 1997.  Between 1998 and 2000, she was head of Foreign Affairs’ section for Sustainable Development.  Since 2009, she has been Deputy Director General of the Department for Cultural Promotion, Public Diplomacy and Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

H.E. Ulrich Lehner was appointed Swiss ambassador to Canada and the Bahamas in late 2011. He was educated in Sion, Toronto and Geneva and holds a master’s in political economy from the University of Geneva and a postgraduate diploma in security policy studies.  He joined the Swiss foreign service in 1981 and has been posted in Portugal, Brazil, Norway, Italy, Egypt and France. While in Switzerland, he was Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, head of Policy Planning and the head of the Multilateral Division of the Foreign Ministry. Prior to coming to Canada, he was ambassador to France and Monaco.

This event is supported, in part, by a grant from the European Union.