A clear or a nuanced no? The strategies of the centre and socialist left parties during the EU debate (1989-1994)

The two leading anti-EU parties in Norway, the Centre Party and the Sociali st Left Party, both had reasons to look forward to a new EU debate when the issue reopened in the late 1980s. However, the only one to gain ground (te mporarily) during the EU conflict was the Centre Party, with the Socialist Left Party experiencing electoral defeat and internal conflict. Why was the outcome so different? Could the strategic choices of the party elites be t he explanation why the Centre Party succeeded where the Socialist Left Part y failed:, This article compares the two parties' handling of EU-related is sues (EEA membership, EU membership and constitutional issues), and the pos sible trade-off between policy (i.e. winning the referendum) and other part y objectives. The results indicate that the Socialist Left Party's strategy suffered from a series of contradictory objectives, whereas the Centre Par ty consistently gave priority to the campaign against Norwegian accession.