Distrust of US growing (Aftenposten)

During the past year 64 per cent of the population have become more negative towards the USA, according to a survey carried out by Opinion. The negative attitude towards US policies has intensified particularly in the past three months. It is among traditionally pro-US Labour and Conservative voters that distrust has grown the most. Commenting on the poll, US Ambassador John Doyle Ong said that while popular opinion fluctuates, the USA is permanently concerned with the protection of freedom, democracy and human rights.

Majority opposes Church establishment (Dagsavisen/Sunday)

A clear majority of Norwegians – 57.7 per cent – are in favour of separating church and state, according to a survey commissioned by Dagsavisen. "This comes as a surprise, given the results of previous polls," said Hallgeir Elstad, senior lecturer at the University of Oslo’s Faculty of Theology. The results of the poll have been warmly welcomed in the Storting. Only the Labour Party and the Centre Party are in favour of retaining an established church. But the two parties do not have enough votes between them to block the two-thirds majority that is needed to change the Constitution and disestablish the Church of Norway.

Christian Democrats rethink position on EU membership (Vårt Land/Saturday)

The Christian Democratic Party will not automatically pull out of the Government if the question of joining the EU comes up again. On the contrary, party chairman Valgerd Svarstad Haugland has indicated the Christian Democrats are about to embark on a new round of debate on Europe. Up to now the Christian Democrats have not seen the need to re-evaluate the electorate’s 1994 rejection of EU membership. But Ms Svarstad Haugland believes the situation is now such that the party should debate its stance on EU membership with a decision being made at its annual conference in almost two years’ time. "We need this debate before we vote on a new manifesto for the next general election," she said.

Warning not to jump-start EU debate (Nationen/Saturday)

The Conservative Party’s deputy leader, Erna Solberg, has no desire for a new round of debate on EU membership at the present time. "The issue of Norwegian membership of the EU will be put on the political agenda only when there is a strong political movement in favour. I want a debate on the issue when I feel it will lead to a positive result. We have absolutely no interest in an EU debate which we know beforehand we cannot win. It is the Norwegian people who will decide, and there is no one on the side of those who support EU membership who wants to start a battle over the issue that they are doomed to lose," she said.

Call for intervention to halt spiralling Snow White costs (Dagsavisen/Sunday)

Socialist Left Party leader Kristin Halvorsen believes the Storting is making a big mistake if it pushes ahead with the development of the Snow White gas field at any price. She wants to know what it would cost to halt development work. On Friday Statoil’s chief executive Olav Fjell announced budget overruns of NOK 5.8 billion. If today’s budget holds, the project will cost NOK 45.3 billion. "This kind of warning about cost overruns so early in a project is amazing. The parliamentary majority is in danger of hiding behind the decisions that have already been made. It cannot do so. This whole project is going to be a financial scandal in ten years’ time," said Ms Halvorsen.

Questioned by fraud squad (Dagens Næringsliv)

Kjell Inge Røkke and his second-in-command at Aker RGI, Olav Revhaug, have been questioned by the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime in connection with the Tore Tønne case. Mr Tønne has been charged with violations of the Accounting Act. Mr Tønne, who was chief executive of Røkke-owned Norway Seafoods before becoming Minister of Health, is deputy chairman of Aker Kværner; Mr Røkke is chairman. Mr Tønne has on several occasions stepped in for Mr Røkke as chairman of Aker Kværner, even after he borrowed NOK 3 million from the billionaire industrialist. "There are strong indications that if Mr Røkke was not impartial in relation to a decision by the Aker Kværner board, neither was Mr Tønne," said law professor Eivind Smith.

Tønne thinking about repaying Røkke loan (Aftenposten)

A hard-pressed Tore Tønne is thinking about repaying the NOK 3 million he borrowed from Kjell Inge Røkke, according to Olav Braaten, the lawyer Mr Tønne hired after the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime started looking into his financial affairs. Mr Braaten is at pains to underline that whether the loan is repaid or not has nothing whatsoever to do with the police investigation.

Røkke furious (Dagbladet/Saturday)

The National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime is now investigating ‘all aspects’ of recent revelations concerning former Health Minister Tore Tønne. This means that billionaire industrialist Kjell Inge Røkke and attorney Anders Eckhoff and his colleagues at the law firm BA-HR are also affected by the police investigation. Mr Røkke is furious over the way the Tønne scandal has developed. Tore Tønne is one of Mr Røkke’s closest confidantes, and in his eyes Mr Tønne has done nothing wrong.

Krone stronger than ever (Dagsavisen/Saturday)

The Norwegian krone has continued to strengthen its position in the currency markets despite last Wednesday’s 0.5 percentage point cut in interest rates. This is bad news for all Norwegian companies who sell their products abroad. Industry had hoped for a little light at the end of the tunnel when Svein Gjedrem, Governor of the Norwegian Central Bank, cut the interest rate, but the market continues to put a high price on the Norwegian krone. Nor do analysts think it likely that a further cut in interest rates at the beginning of January will have any significant impact on the exchange rate.

Black money a threat to EEA Agreement (Aftenposten)

Lichtenstein’s opposition to new EU rules to prevent money laundering is a problem for Norway and Iceland. Parts of the EEA Agreement could be set aside if the three EFTA countries do not agree on a compromise that is palatable to the EU. Norway could, indirectly, be forced to issue its first EEA veto. State Secretary Kim Traavik (Con) at the Foreign Ministry has confirmed that the issue remains unresolved. "We are working intensely to find a solution. We have a legitimate hope that we will reach agreement within the deadline, so that we can include this directive," he said.

1. Worth Noting

• Norwegian banks and financial institutions are legally obliged to accept passports and driving licences as valid proof of identification. It is these documents that ID thieves choose to forge when they are planning to empty your bank account. The banking and financial services sector has now raised the alarm.
  (Dagsavisen)
• The Norwegian-registered freighter Tricolor is lying in the middle of the Dover Straights at a depth of 27 metres. At low tide the side of the ship can be seen sticking several metres up out of the water, but the vessel and its cargo have been written off as a total loss. The ship was carrying 2,862 brand new cars – BMWs, Volvos and Saabs. It sank after a collision in thick fog.
  (All Sunday newspapers)
• The EU’s decision to expand its membership to 25 countries does not impress Sigbjørn Gjelsvik. The leader of the organization No to the EU is confident that the Norwegian people will continue to want to stay outside. "I agree with Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik that our relations with the EU will be a main theme in the 2005 general election campaign," he said.
  (Verdens Gang/Saturday)
• According to the police, more and more asylum seekers choose to holiday in the country from which they claim to have fled in fear of their lives. The National Bureau of Crime Investigation has now called on the Immigration Directorate (UDI) to decide how these cases should be dealt with. The general rule is that asylum tourists lose their refugee status.
  (Aftenposten/Saturday)
• People who have left the Church of Norway will not be allowed to participate in the decision on whether to separate church and state. Only members of the Church of Norway will be invited to participate in the state/church commission that Religious Affairs Minister Valgerd Svarstad Haugland will appoint in the New Year.
  (Dagsavisen)
• The Norwegian Medical Association suspects that some of the research carried out on approved pharmaceutical products is nothing more than hocus-pocus designed to boost sales. Some doctors write out prescriptions for medicines which are up to 20 times more expensive than other products with the same effect.
  (Aftenposten)
• After eight years in the Storting, MPs can look forward to a pension worth NOK 2.8 million. This is three times more than the NOK 900,000 a civil servant on the same salary receives after the same length of service.
  (Aftenposten/Sunday)
• Shopping centres packed with shoppers in the chaotic Christmas rush are just too tempting. Shoplifters steal goods worth NOK 257 million in December alone. The thieves are not more active in the run-up to Christmas, there is just more of them.
  (Verdens Gang/Saturday)

2. Today’s comment from Verdens Gang

When leading Christian Democrats like Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik and party chairwoman Valgerd Svarstad Haugland both say that this country needs a new debate on EU membership in the not too distant future, it is worth sitting up and taking notice. Mr Bondevik said on Friday that he thought a referendum on the issue was likely before 2010. At the same time he opened the door a fraction to a new debate on EU membership within the Christian Democratic Party. Ms Svarstad Haugland has said the same, underlining that the party would not necessarily pull out of the ruling coalition government if EU membership once again becomes a hot issue. Why should the two party leaders express themselves in this way if they do not see the possibility of changing their stance from opposition to EU membership to support for it? The Christian Democratic Party could prove to hold the key to the question of EU membership. The party has always been divided on the issue, and has always accepted that both views are compatible with the Christian Democrats’ basic principles. So there is reason to hope that the Christian Democratic Party, under the leadership of Kjell Magne Bondevik, will one day say out loud that Norway should be at the table where Europe’s nations come together to shape the future – not only of the EU, but also our own. As the leader of the country, Mr Bondevik must have seen how unfortunate it is to be obliged to kick his heels in the corridor while the leaders of Europe’s other countries are gathered to make decisions which are, to such an enormous extent, crucial for Norway too.

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