Bondevik predicts new battle over EU membership (Aftenposten)

Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik said yesterday that he believed there would be another referendum on Norwegian EU membership in the period between 2005 and 2010. The PM was extremely specific in his evaluation of Norway’s relations with the EU – and the possibility of a renewed fight over membership following the two referenda in 1972 and 1994, which both ended in a narrow majority against joining. This is the first time the PM, who plays a key role in the debate on EU membership in Norway, has made any such predictions after EU expansion and constitutional reform have become more tangible. “I personally would like to see two referenda: one on whether to apply for membership again, and one on the negotiated agreement. This latter point is crucial because it touches on key issues for important groups in our society – particularly those in the primary industries,” said Mr Bondevik yesterday.

Continued majority in favour of EU membership (Aftenposten)

For the second month in a row, 56 per cent of those questioned in Opinion’s EU opinion poll have said they would vote in favour of EU membership if a referendum on the issue were held tomorrow. 42 per cent said they would vote against. The surprisingly large majority in favour of joining the EU to emerge from the November poll which Opinion has carried out on behalf of Aftenposten, and the almost equally strong majority in MMI’s poll published by Dagbladet the day before yesterday, does not seem to have been a fluke. Today’s poll confirms a significant mood swing among the people. Opinion’s December figures are identical with the November results, even with the inclusion of the undecided voters.

Norway moves from no to yes (Nationen)

For Sigurd Grytten, leader of the European Movement in Norway, the latest opinion poll figures make nice reading, but come as no surprise. “We have made visible progress this autumn. I think it is because a large number of people think it is meaningless for us to be on the outside looking in,” he said. Opponent of EU membership Sigbjørn Gjelsvik, on the other hand, feels the change is due to the fact that the EU is largely absent from the public agenda. He believes the nation’s verdict will swing over time. “As early as 1998 we had a lengthy period in which supporters of EU membership were in the majority,” he said, adding that it is just as likely that the tide will turn this time too. “At the referendum, the people said no,” he said.

Tønne provided extensive consultancy services to Røkke companies (Aftenposten)

Anders Eckhoff of the law firm BA-HR has confirmed that former Health Minister Tore Tønne was commissioned to provide a much larger number of consultancy services to Kjell Inge Røkke than the single, controversial job that has hitherto been made public. The bills for these services are thought to have been sent direct to Mr Røkke rather than being routed via BA-HR. Mr Eckhoff is calling for a new assessment of Mr Tønne’s competence as a member of the board of Aker Kværner. Aftenposten told Mr Eckhoff yesterday that Mr Tønne’s name had appeared in the Register of Business Enterprises on 4 November as chairman of Røkke-owned Norway Seafoods Holding, the parent company of Norway Seafoods, which operates a fleet of fishing vessels. Mr Tønne was chief executive of Norway Seafoods until he became a government minister in 2000. “This information about Norway Seafoods is news to me. If the ties between Mr Tønne and the Aker RGI group of companies are too close, it would be problematic,” said Mr Eckhoff.

Norway down in the dumps (Dagsavisen)

Unemployment will rise steadily among all groups of workers in the next two years. At that point, 130,000 people in Norway will be unemployed. On the other hand, it will be easier for those who do have a job to meet their mortgage repayments and pay their steadily rising electricity bills. The heat is gradually going out of the Norwegian economy. As a result, the exchange rate will probably fall, and interest rates will drop more than they already have. This was the prediction made yesterday by Statistics Norway when it published its analysis of economic trends for the coming year.

Red-green alliance gaining strength (Vårt Land)

The Labour Party, Socialist Left Party and Centre Party agree that the additional cash benefit for children under three should be cut. The centre-left alliance in Norwegian politics is taking shape. It wants billions slashed from the additional cash benefit for the under threes, cuts in funding for private schools, more for children and has resulted in a hundred joint positions on the national budget. The Conservative Party’s economic policy spokesman, Jan Tore Sanner, is worried that the alliance signals that Labour has taken a step to the left. “In the main it is Labour that has moved closer to the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party,” he said. He is already nostalgic for the pragmatic Labour Party of Gro Harlem Brundtland’s day, with whom it was possible to arrive at “sensible solutions”.

Immigration Directorate accepts polygamy (Aftenposten)

In 1999 Norwegian ‘Ahmed’ acquired a second wife in Pakistan, without having divorced his first wife in Norway. The Immigration Directorate (UDI) has decided that all the children born to this second marriage automatically have the status of Norwegian citizens. ‘Ahmed’ was granted Norwegian citizenship in 1995. Then, as now, he lived with his first wife here in Norway. Although polygamy is forbidden in this country, it is increasingly common. Local Government and Regional Affairs Minister Erna Solberg has deplored the UDI’s practice, calling it “unacceptable”. “Under Norwegian bigamy laws, the UDI should not have accepted this,” she said. The Labour Party has reacted equally as strongly as the Conservative minister.

Worth Noting

• The Director General of Public Prosecutions should involve himself in the Tønne case and assess whether a serious embezzlement of state funds has taken place, says Supreme Court Advocate Tore Erling Staff.
  (Aftenposten)
• The ruling coalition parties have asked the President of the Storting, Jørgen Kosmo, to halt the increase in MPs’ pensions which has been approved by the parliamentary majority. The decision could unbalance the budget to the tune of NOK 500 million.
  (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Several thousand asylum seekers are cynically exploiting the Norwegian asylum rules and working illegally while they wait for their application to be rejected. This is one of the lessons learned from the recent police sweep, Operation Advent, reports NRK. During the operation police officers turned back more people than normal who were carrying a passport and tickets. This reinforces the theory that many people are speculating in the long time it takes to process asylum applications.
  (nrk.no)
• All the indications are that Norway could end up in a serious economic crisis, claims Finn Bergesen Jr, president of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO). However, Mr Bergesen does see some rays of hope: increased public awareness that a crisis is imminent, and next year’s national budget, which was “tight”.
  (Dagens Næringsliv)
• The board of the Theological College in Stavanger has decided to let Ola Tjørhom continue as a professor at the college, despite the fact that he has converted to Catholicism.
  (NTB)
• The Immigration Directorate (UDI) is worried that asylum seekers who have not been through the transit camp at Tanum could spread TB. The UDI has asked the police to tighten up its routines.
  (Aftenposten)
• ‘Animal Minister’ Lars Sponheim will today present a report to the Storting which is intended to create a better life for pigs, battery hens and, probably, circus elephants as well.
  (Dagsavisen)

Today’s comment from Aftenposten

Today’s poll on Norwegian membership of the EU, published in today’s Aftenposten, confirms that there is a change of mood among the voters with regard to this issue. However, the moot point is how long-lasting this new stability in favour of joining the EU will prove to be. We need another few months of polling data before we can come to any accurate conclusion on that. As convinced supporters of Norway finding its place in the expanded European community that will be established after the historic EU summit currently underway in Copenhagen, we have no qualms about repeating that what is important is not when a referendum on EU membership takes place, but that supporters of membership win it. We are nevertheless disappointed by the lack of enthusiasm that several leading politicians, who want Norway to join the EU, have shown towards the turnaround which is now very probably in the process of taking place in the minds of the Norwegian people. Jan Petersen, Foreign Minister and chairman of the Conservative Party, continues to remind everyone what an ‘experienced loser’ he is when it comes to the EU, and has left it up to Local Government and Regional Affairs Minister Erna Solberg, the Conservative Party’s deputy leader, to say that “membership of the EU is more important for the Conservatives than participation in the coalition government”. That the country’s Foreign Minister has put his own convictions on hold when they are about to win the support of the majority of voters is a damning illustration of the morass our politicians have got themselves stuck in. Both the sitting government and a possible future coalition made up of the Labour Party, Socialist Left Party and Centre Party have allowed themselves to become totally hamstrung in the single most important issue facing Norway in the years to come. Perhaps the rebellious streak which has previously led the Norwegian people to defy their leaders and say no to the EU will in future force the politicians to give priority to the country’s interests instead of playing tactically in pursuit of the most advantageous political alliance for their own party.