History of Norway company by 1985, just to go bankrupt by 1993. Unemployment reached record-high levels in the early 1990s. By 1990 Norway was Europe's largest oil producer and by 1995 it was the world's second-largest oil exporter. Membership in the European Union was rejected in a 1994 referendum, with Norway instead joining the European Economic Area and later also the Schengen Area. Large public investments in the 1990s were a new National Hospital and Oslo Airport, Gardermoen—connected to the capital with Norway's first high-speed railway, the Gardermoen Line. A number of large government companies, such as Statoil, Telenor and Kongsberg were privatized.
European Capital of Culture An international panel of cultural experts is in charge of assessing the proposals of cities for the title according to criteria specified by the European Union. For two of the capitals each year, eligibility is open to cities in EU member states only. From 2021 and every three years thereafter, a third capital will been chosen from cities in countries that are candidates or potential candidates for membership, or in countries that are part of the European Economic Area (EEA)– an example of the latter being Stavanger in Norway, which was a European Capital of Culture in 2008. A 2004