The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Oslo Press Division

Norway Daily No. 48/00

Date: 8 March 2000

GAS ON THE AGENDA AGAIN ( Aftenposten)

A report by the Legal Department at the Ministry of Justice is reviving the Government’s hope of surviving tomorrow’s debate on gas-fired power plants, just as it survived the IT debate. But the Conservative and Labour Parties do not feel that the report gives them any reason to change their views. Yesterday the Government accepted the decision of the Labour and Progress Parties that IT Fornebu Technoport would build the Fornebu IT centre. But Labour and Progress backed down, and refrained from presenting the most provocative proposal. As a result, there was no vote of confidence. The Progress Party prefers to stick with the Bondevik Government, because the party chairman, Carl I. Hagen, feels that a weak minority coalition gives him more elbow room and the Storting more influence, according to Aftenposten’s commentator.

WON THE FIRST ROUND ( Nationen)

The Labour and Progress Parties backed down. The centrist government and Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik survived the IT Fornebu issue in the Storting yesterday. The Government has not had an opportunity to flex its muscles. It has only been able to show that it has muscles that can be flexed if need be. And for Labour and Progress, what happened yesterday was actually a retreat, according to Nationen’s commentary today. The Government is, surprisingly enough, also on the offensive in the run-up to Thursday’s confrontation on the gas-fired power plant issue. A recent legal report may checkmate the opposition.

LEGALITIES MAY STOP GAS-FIRED POWER ( Dagsavisen)

A full-scale battle is now being waged between the Government and the Storting majority as to whether the Government can be instructed in the gas-fired power plant conflict. The battle concerns who is to interpret the Pollution Control Act. The Government considers that it has the right to decide whether the Storting’s decision on gas-fired power plants is legal. "We decide. This is about policy, not law," claim the Labour and Conservative Parties. But Labour’s own legal adviser, Ole Steen-Olsen, claims that the Storting’s views are "not necessarily decisive" in the controversial conflict that will affect the Government’s future.

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL ( Nationen)

Yesterday the Bondevik Government saw the light at the end of the tunnel. The defeat on the IT Fornebu issue was overshadowed by the victory of the Government’s survival. Once again it was Carl I. Hagen who directed the performance in the Storting, although he stayed backstage and let Mr. Hedenström appear to run the show. In Government circles there is hope that they can repeat this success tomorrow in the gas-fired power plant issue. The Legal Department of the Ministry of Justice has provided the Government with more ammunition that it had dared to hope for in the gas-fired power plant issue.

SHARES UP NOK 15 BILLION IN ONE DAY ( Aftenposten)

At last the Oslo Stock Exchange has returned to its record high from 1998. Yesterday the value of shares on the stock exchange increased by around NOK 15 billion. And stockbrokers think this trend could continue. Yesterday’s combination of high oil prices, strong development in technology shares and a rise in the value of traditional industrial shares sent the all-share index through the ceiling. The new peak on the all-share index is 1448.52 points, which is an increase of 2.63 per cent over the day before. The previous all-share index high was 1422.73 points on 6 May 1998.

WORTH NOTING

• The Labour and Progress Parties emphasize that their views on SIVA’s role at Fornebu are "the same as before". Nobody dares to rule out the possibility of a tenth round on this issue in the Storting. Labour and Progress feel that the NOK 260 million the state will invest in the future-oriented holding company that is to be established at Fornebu should be transferred to SIVA. ( Aftenposten)
• A defeat that tasted of victory. A little puff, and the air went out of the balloon. Carl I. Hagen and Jens Stoltenberg saved Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik from a vote of confidence. The centrist parties regard this as a victory. The opposition parties regard it as a defeat for the Government. ( Nationen)
• Norway could have established its first CO ₂-free gas-fired power plants in the course of a few years. One of the large oil companies had concrete plans to build a power plant on an oil platform, but when the Storting cut the CO ₂ >tax on the continental shelf last year, the project was shelved. ( Dagens Næringsliv)
• According to a poll carried out by Norsk Gallup for VG and TV2, Jens Stoltenberg is losing out on International Women’s Day: the "Stoltenberg effect" lasted for just one month. Women are turning their backs on the formerly so popular Mr. Stoltenberg. They want him to be soft-spoken and cautious, not a reckless driver forcing them to accept gas-fired power plants against their will. ( Verdens Gang)
• The Petroleum Fund, which will be the safety net for the elderly of the future, is growing at a record rate. In 1999 the fund increased by NOK 50 billion, and by the end of the year it had reached NOK 222 billion. ( Dagsavisen)
• Have you wondered what is becoming of the country’s enormous oil revenues? They are being used, among other things, to buy shares in foreign hamburger stands, clothing collections and breweries. ( Dagbladet)
• International companies have fewer and fewer reasons for establishing a presence in Norway. According to the private sector’s own ranking list, Norway has landed in the bottom half in seven of twelve categories. "Perhaps the most disturbing thing about this situation is that we are not improving in any areas," says Kristin Clemet, deputy managing director at the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry. ( Aftenposten)

TODAY'S COMMENT from Dagens Næringsliv:

Kristin Halvorsen, chairman of the Socialist Left Party, says a surprising number of sensible things. She described yesterday as a bad day for the Storting and for Norwegian politics. She said that both the Government’s and the Labour-Progress partnership’s conduct in the IT Fornebu issue almost made her blush. The Government because it appears to lack backbone, and lets itself be pushed around by the Storting. The Storting because it bullies the Government, but gets cold feet as soon as there is a possibility that the Government will stop it. But neither of the parties that should have been blushing with embarrassment did so. On the contrary, they both claimed to have won. But Ms. Halvorsen also listed the losers. If the project succeeds, the outlying districts will lose all their IT expertise, and Oslo-Akershus will still lack enough housing. If the project is unsuccessful, however, the state will own a combined housing and shopping centre. And this is where the problem really lies.