Counter-terrorism bill with fewer teeth (Aftenposten)

In response to sharp criticism from the Director General of Public Prosecutions, Minister of Justice Odd Einar Dørum has done a sudden about-face on key measures in a counter-terrorism bill. Among other things, police will not be allowed to use unconventional investigation methods to stop terrorists. Neither will the bill contain any general prohibition against planning or preparing acts of terrorism in Norway, which was part of Mr. Dørum’s original draft bill. One measure that is being retained, though, is an amendment to the Immigration Act to permit the expulsion of foreign nationals who have committed or financed acts of terror.

Labour supports executive pay curbs (Dagsavisen)

Jens Stoltenberg goes along with the view that compulsion must be used against the business community to halt the executive pay spiral, just as compulsory gender quotas have been introduced. Both Labour and the Socialist Left support the measures called for by Gerd-Liv Valla, president of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions, to stop galloping executive pay. While ordinary wages rose by 25 per cent over the past five years, senior executives in major Norwegian corporations doubled their own salaries. "We will look at statutory changes to curb executive pay if the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions approaches us on the matter," says Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik. The Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry and a Storting majority are both extremely negative to Valla’s proposal to bring executive pay under control. They, too, react to the increasingly wilder pay escalation, but they will do nothing.

Labour up in recent poll (Aftenposten)

Labour may have touched bottom. Opinion’s political barometer for April showed a 4.5 point gain for Labour, bringing it up to 19.1 per cent. It is now Norway’s third largest party, having passed the Socialist Left. "It’s nice to see higher ratings, but we are still too far down the scale to be content. Labour still has a long way to go," says deputy chairman Jens Stoltenberg. The Conservatives are Norway’s biggest party, at 21 per cent. Progress slid 3.7 points and is now at 20.3 per cent.

Labour and Progress support government on refugees without IDs (Aftenposten)

Both the Labour and Progress parties agree wholeheartedly with the Government’s aim to crack down on the destruction of passports and visas by asylum-seekers, the majority of whom do so before approaching Norwegian authorities to claim asylum. "If the Government really wants to do something about this problem, we are more than willing to lend a hand," says Per Sandberg, spokesman for the Progress Party on asylum and immigration issues. Labour’s immigration policy spokeswoman, Signe Øye, says Labour, too, wishes to put a stop to this abuse of the institution of asylum.

Give them NOK 50 000! (Dagbladet)

The opposition in the Storting agrees that full nurses and auxiliary nurses must receive higher pay. The Labour Party is not prepared to quote a specific figure, but the Socialist Left, Progress and Centre parties give their definite support to the whopping pay demands. These expressions of support are startling, not least because they come in the midst of a round of wage negotiations.

Lax performance from Language Council (Dagens Næringsliv)

The Norwegian Language Council’s job is to keep an eye on government agencies to see to it that they maintain the prescribed balance between the two official forms of written Norwegian – Bokmål and Nynorsk. The Banking, Insurance and Securities Commission, the Data Inspectorate and the Ministry of Education and Research are among the government bodies guilty of the most flagrant violations. By law, all government offices, bodies and agencies are required to ensure that neither form of Norwegian falls below 25 per cent of the percentage of their output.

New punitive duty on Norwegian salmon sank in EU committee (Aftenposten)

The EU Commission suffered defeat in the EU’s antidumping committee yesterday, so the EU will not introduce a punitive duty on Norwegian salmon imports at this time. "For Norway, this is encouraging. The antidumping committee will take another look at the matter at a meeting next week, but any radical change in views in the committee would surprise us indeed," says Bjørn Tore Grydland, Norway’s ambassador to the EU.

Worth noting

• The Progress Party is struggling to fill vacant jobs at party headquarters. Employees complain that they are drawn into conflicts within the party. (Dagsavisen)
• Minister of Education Kristin Clemet threatens to introduce a targeted bill if Norway’s high schools (upper secondary schools) do not put a stop to all outdoor smoking on school premises. Ms. Clemet aims to stop approximately 40 000 high school students from smoking on school grounds during school recesses. (Verdens Gang)
• The number of threat cases reported to the police has multiplied by three in the past ten years. Young people under the age of 24 are on the receiving end of most of these threats. (Vårt Land)
• The Progress Party may block the Government’s attempt to sell off further blocks of shares in Norsk Hydro. Progress also calls for caution in selling off Statkraft holdings. Progress Party chairman Carl I. Hagen is keeping his cards close, however, and says little that can actually bind the party to any particular stand in respect of individual corporations. (Dagsavisen)
• Minister of Government Administration Victor D. Norman by and large supports the Norwegian Competition Authority’s reasons for stopping Statkraft’s buyup raid. Mr. Norman takes the view that the low capacity of the power network restricts competition in the power market. (Aftenposten)
• The Government has allocated NOK 130 million to a new international health fund that will join in the battle against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Norway will probably contribute another billion kroner to the fund over the next five years. (Vårt Land)

Today's comment from Dagsavisen

"The Norwegian Government wishes to assist Estonia and other countries seeking membership of the EU," said Fisheries Minister Svein Ludvigsen yesterday at the close of Estonian President Arnole Rüütel’s state visit to Norway. A handsome gesture from a Norwegian government minister, that. An investment in the future? Perhaps. After all, who will help Norway into the EU – Estonia and Iceland?