No solution in sight for steel conflict (Aftenposten)

The steel conflict between the EU and Norway still as far from a solution as ever after Foreign Minister Jan Petersen’s discussion with several top EU representatives yesterday. The conflict has already been described as the most difficult for Norway since the EEA Agreement was signed. The EU and Norway obviously have different viewpoints regarding the legal basis for dealing with trade conflicts of this type. In Norway we believe that our relations with the EU and the internal market are regulated through the EEA Agreement. This implies that Norway is in many ways already a member of the EU’s internal market. The EU, however, is approaching the issue on the basis of the rules of the World Trade Organization.

Bondevik favoured a Nordic telecommunications giant (NTB)

At the end of 2001 the prime ministers of Norway, Sweden and Finland tried to organize a merger of the telecommunications companies of the three countries. The negotiations, which have been kept secret until now, were broken off when the senior executives of the companies failed to agree, reports the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Late last year Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik was contacted by his Finnish counterpart Paavo Lipponen. Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson was also included in the discussions about merging the three Nordic countries’ telecommunications companies. Denmark was not included in the initiative because its telecommunications company had already been acquired by an American company.

Progress Party wants to give petroleum revenues to developing countries (Aftenposten)

The Progress Party has changed its tune with regard to development assistance, and now wants to transfer petroleum revenues to third world countries. "Compulsory government development assistance should be abolished" according to the Progress Party agenda for 2001-2005. But now, in 2002, they have already changed their minds. "With today’s petroleum revenues it is impossible to say that we cannot afford to pay for development assistance," said Morten Høglund, Progress Party foreign policy spokesman. Party chairman Carl I. Hagen insists that this is not a ploy to please the Christian Democratic Party.

"Let Hagen participate in the Government" (Verdens Gang)

Chief economist Øystein Dørum at DnB Markets would approve of a majority government that includes the Progress Party. "The Progress Party is ready to take on responsibility, and it should have the opportunity of participating in the Government together with Mr. Bondevik," said Mr. Dørum to Verdens Gang. He believes that cooperation of this sort would be a natural process, since Progress is the first choice in budget cooperation. "The Progress Party is currently pursuing a nice-guy policy in the areas of both tax cuts and expenditures. It would help Mr. Hagen’s supporters to see what the party stands for, and giving the party responsibility would stabilize the economy," said Mr. Dørum.

Prisoners pressured to change lawyers (Dagsavisen)

It is not only asylum-seekers who are giving plenty of business to lawyers. Inside prison walls, too, lawyers are hunting for clients. The Prison Service wants to put a stop to the activities of these lawyers, and is asking the Norwegian Bar Association to clean up within its own ranks. The methods used by TV2 to expose lawyer Terje Tune are now being criticized. Several lawyers have been visited by TV2’s hidden camera "agent", and they want the video recordings of these visits destroyed. Svein Slettan, Assistant Professor of Criminal Law, is critical of the fact that the Russian "agent" has visited several lawyers, probably using a concealed camera.

Defying the market (Dagens Næringsliv)

With stock market values plunging, insiders are trading. Seven of ten inside deals at the Oslo Stock Exchange are equities purchases. The question is whether traders are buying because they believe that there will be an upsurge in the market, or because they want to convince other people that the situation in their own companies will improve. Bjørn Rune Gjelsten insists that in a perspective of one to two years, investments in blue chip stock will bring higher average yields than bank deposits.

Economists disagree with Norges Bank (Dagsavisen)

Economists are on a collision course with Svein Gjedrem, Governor of Norges Bank. Experts consulted by Dagsavisen say that Mr. Gjedrem should not have raised interest rates. On Wednesday, finance industry economists largely supported the actions of the Governor of Norges Bank. They agreed that as unfortunate as it was, an interest rate hike was necessary because of the generous wage settlement. Social economists at universities and colleges, on the other hand, are surprised at how eager Mr. Gjedrem was to raise interest rates. They do not find it reasonable to blame Wednesday’s interest rate hike exclusively on greedy wage earners. "The Government, too, must take a great deal of the blame, among other things because of last year’s fiscal budget. At the same time, the Storting has continued to increase spending," said Steinar Holden, professor of economics at the University of Oslo.

Statoil may be a winner (Dagens Næringsliv)

Today the energy giant E.on will probably receive a positive response from the German authorities in its bid to take over Norway’s largest gas customer, Ruhrgas. Statoil may be one of the winners in the merging process, and may be responsible for one of the largest foreign purchases ever made by Norway. The scope of the contest currently being carried out in Germany, Europe’s largest energy market, is enormous. Europe’s second largest energy company, E.on, will probably spend ten billion euro securing its control of Germany’s largest gas distribution company, Ruhrgas. Ruhrgas is currently Norway’s major gas customer, buying 12 billion cubic metres of gas from Norway every year.

Worth noting:

• Private day-care centres operate 30 per cent below public centres in terms of costs, according to a study being carried out by the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs (NTB)
• Norske Skog has secured a net cash inflow of NOK 1 billion after having sold a total of 13 hydropower plants. After the last three plants were sold to Akershus Kraft yesterday, the total price of the sales has reached NOK 1.3 billion. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Norwegian small investors are fleeing the unit trusts in droves. In May there were far more people cashing in their investments than there were new investors. This is in sharp contrast to the same period last year and the year before, when people were investing far more than they were removing. Now many people are putting their money into bank accounts. (Aftenposten)
• The regions lost the battle over where the new government food authority is to be located. The main office will be in Oslo, with eight regional offices located around the country. (Nationen)
• Mediehuset Vårt Land and five other newspapers are planning to establish a nationwide radio station. "We should have a good chance of taking over P4’s concession," said Managing Director Per Magne Tveiten of Mediehuset Vårt Land. The other newspapers participating in the plan are Fædrelandsvennen, Agderposten, Adresseavisen, Bergens Tidende and Harstad Tidende. (Vårt Land)

• The security guard branch increased its turnover by 40 per cent from 1998 to 2001. The National Association of Security Guard Agencies estimates that there are currently between 8000 and 10 000 security guards in Norway. (Aftenposten)

Today's comment from Verdens Gang:

Labour Party secretary Martin Kolberg is probably not the only high-level Labour politician who is uneasy about the fact that Gerd-Liv Valla, head of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), is considering cutting out the organization’s support of political parties. Although both Ms. Valla and Mr. Kolberg emphasize to NTB that this issue is by no means decided, and that the parties involved must hold further discussions, the signals are clear. Ms. Valla has stressed over and over again that the primary task of the LO is to safeguard the interests of its members, regardless of whether they belong to the Labour, Socialist Left or Progress parties. And it was far from coincidental that she agreed to participate in the Progress Party national congress. Of course she is aware of the polls showing that many LO members vote Progress or could consider supporting the party. Ms. Valla’s statements are a link in the modernization process that is under way. The struggle between the LO and other labour organizations is coming to a head, and in this conflict the ties between the LO and Labour are getting in the way. This probably helps to explain why Ms. Valla says that it is far from certain that the LO will continue to support the Labour Party financially after the convention in 2005.