4 Cooperation within the framework of the Open Government Partnership
4.1 OGP Council
Norway has had its own OGP Council ever since work on the Third Action Plan started. It has consisted of six persons from various organisations and entities. In particular, the Council has helped the Ministry to develop the action plans by providing input on topics, as well as monitoring the work of creating, implementing and following up the plans.
In addition, the Council has, on its own initiative, participated in the public debate on openness issues, including making small video films posted on YouTube, which in 2020/21 particularly focused on openness during the pandemic. In 2022, three videos were made that focused on openness in general and the OGP in particular.
Members of the Council have also participated in meetings with the Ministry in various contexts, most recently during the OGP Europe Regional Meeting in Rome in 2022 and at the OGP Global Summit in Tallinn in 2023.
4.2 The Stakeholders’ Forum
An important element of the OGP is the Stakeholders’ Forum, which shall consist of the public administration and civil society and meets regularly to follow the OGP work in each country. It will therefore play an active role in the preparation of the action plans, but also in their implementation and follow-up.
In Norway, the members of this forum have not been permanent. A mailing list has been drawn up of a number of civil society organisations that receive invitations to meetings and other briefings. These are civil society organisations that have been assumed to be interested in the work.
Recipients of the invitations have been encouraged to forward the meeting invitations to other organisations that may be relevant. Letters to the Stakeholders’ Forum have often included requests for input to action plans, information about OGP meetings, etc.
Attendance at the meetings often reflects the topics that are up for debate. Nevertheless, relatively few organisations have attended the meetings. Most of the organisations that choose to attend work with openness in general and with transparency around cash flows. In addition, organisations from the media industry have also attended.
There have been several meetings of the forum during the preparation of the Fifth Action Plan. The first meeting took place on 23 June and marked the start of work on the action plan. This was followed up by another meeting on 20 September. All the organisations were invited to these meetings. In addition, two thematic meetings were held on topics where the stakeholders had submitted proposals for commitments (on 13 and 16 January 2023, respectively).
4.3 Website
A special website has been set up on Regjeringen.no that deals with OGP work (https://open.regjeringa.no/. The website has provided information on a running basis about the work on the action plan and other relevant information about Norway’s OGP work.
4.4 Nordic+
Norway has played an active role for several years within the framework of the OGP. A cooperation that originally consisted of Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway has been expanded to include the Baltic countries, Germany, the Netherlands and Scotland. The cooperation is often referred to as “Nordic+” and was initiated in its current form at the Global Summit in Ottawa in 2019.
The contact persons in the countries meet more or less regularly, either in person or online, often together with the OGP’s administration. The meetings have specialised content partly related to openness issues, partly related to processes such as work on action plans and how the public administration works towards civil society.
In addition to meetings in which all or most countries participate, bilateral meetings also take place.
The responsible contact person(s) for the OGP from Norway participate, often together with members of the OGP Council.