NORWEGIANS thought that 1972 was a pretty rotten year, but worse may

yet be heading their way. Two decades ago the political arguments that

swept through Norway sundered families, broke marriages, and set one

half of the nation against the other half. The issue was the proposal

that Norway should join the European Community, suggested in 1970, put

to a referendum two years later, and now to be tested once more. After

an interval of 20 years there are still Norwegians who won't talk to

each other because of the bitterness of the debate on that occasion, and

many Norwegians fear that the formal application, which Prime Minister

Gro Harlem Brundtland will hand to Mr Major in London next week, will

merely reopen the wounds of the past.

The application in 1972 was the third time Norway had sought

membership after two rejections in the sixties. The issues at that time

were debated to the death and have hardly changed since. The 1972

referendum vote was against joining by almost 54% to 46% and analysis of

the voting showed a broad polarisation of industrialists and city

dwellers in favour against the rural communities of fishermen and

farmers scattered from the fjords and through the valleys from the

Skagerrak to the high Arctic. The majority who voted against were

nationalists and traditionalists of all parties who combined a fear of

the changes that EC membership would bring together with a horror of

uncontrolled development. ''The big will get bigger -- vote no,'' was a

slogan from 1972 which could still be resuscitated today.

The parliamentary debate in the Norwegian parliament yesterday

illustrated amply the depth of the divisions that still exist and which

have been made worse by the recent divisions within the EC. Though Mrs

Brundtland has a comfortable majority in parliament for her decision to

apply for membership, the latest opinion polls show that 55% of

Norwegians are opposed to membership as against only 35% in favour.

While it is true that the referendum on the subject will not be held for

some considerable time, Mrs Brundtland has embarked on an exceptionally

difficult task made worse by the rejection of Maastricht by the Nordic

neighbours in Denmark. Nor will she be confident of negotiating

substantial special clauses for Norway given that Danish attempts to do

something similar have met with considerable opposition. Nevertheless

Mrs Brundtland must press ahead for the simple reason that Norway cannot

afford to be left out of a European Community which will include Sweden

and Finland.