Well it rather confirms they saw too much risk on the A26 from SAAB Kockums, it looks like they want a minimum risk hassle free procurement.

That was one reason, however two other reasons were that they prefer to buy from a big NATO country, not a small non-aligned country. However no doubt the fact that the A26 is not a ready product was probably by itself an important reason. The NH90 mess, and a few other similar purchases has probably made them very wary of buying products under development.

Isn’t the 212 not an export product per say from TKMS? I would guess a 214 variant would be the most likely option they would offer to Norway.

I am not really an expert on subs — according to Wiki (yes I know, not always a reliable source) it says:

The Type 214 submarine is derived from the Type 212,[2] but as an export variant it lacks some of the classified technologies of its smaller predecessor, the most important of which is probably the non-magnetic steel hull, which makes the Type 212 submarine difficult to detect using a magnetic anomaly detector.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_214_submarine

I don’t know if this is correct or not? The Norwegian Navy expects to get state-of-the-art systems and not something that has been downgraded.

Based on economic, industrial and military assessments, the Norwegian Ministry of Defence has concluded that the French company Direction des Constructions Navales Services (DCNS) and the German company ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) are the strongest candidates if Norway decides to procure new submarines. The Ministry of Defence has decided to focus our future efforts towards these two companies and their respective national authorities.

– Norway’s approach is to base an potential acquisition on an existing submarine design. We want to avoid a large development project with the risk, uncertainty and cost such a project entails. Our criteria is therefore that Norway’s future submarines shall be built by a shipyard that has a long and continuous experience in building submarines, says the Minister of Defence.

The Ministry of Defence has for several years worked to achieve cooperation with other nations with the aim of reducing the acquisition costs and in-service costs for future submarines. In parallel with work towards the shipyards, the process of seeking cooperation with non-submarine building nations planning a submarine acquisition will continue, primarily towards the Netherlands and Poland.

http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3814

“[W]e are in dialogue with several countries, including Poland. There is no plan to launch a joint procurement with Poland at this stage, but Norway is hoping for a joint procurement on this acquisition. We are just not sure if this will be possible — and with whom yet,” Ann-Kristin Salbuvik, the assistant director general at the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, wrote in an email.

Salbuvik said that the talks with the Polish ministry are good, but that she would not use the word “advanced” to describe their current state.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/naval/submarines/2016/04/06/norway-poland-submarine-kobben/82699308/