Norwegians not concerned with health (Dagsavisen)

Norwegians are not particularly concerned about maintaining a healthy lifestyle. A research programme investigating health economics reveals that three people out of four have an unhealthy lifestyle. Only 17 per cent of the respondents said that they exercise for health reasons, and 44 per cent said that they smoke, either on a regular basis or occasionally. But only 28 per cent of those who smoke every day said that addiction to nicotine was their main reason for smoking. The study also shows that highly educated people are more concerned with their health. They exercise more, eat healthier foods and smoke less – and they are more aware of the reasons for their behaviour.

More young people attracted to politics (Aftenposten)

The youth organizations of political parties are recruiting more and more members. Since 2000, 1389 new members have been registered. This trend is in direct opposition to the steep decline the parties themselves, with the exception of the Progress Party, have been experiencing for years. From 1999 to 2001 alone the political parties lost 20 000 members. Young people are flocking to the parties, while in the Storting the old-timers still dominate. Currently, only 13 of the 265 Storting members are under 30. The Conservatives have the largest number of young people in the Storting, with seven people under the age of 30 in their group.

Stoltenberg warned to keep away from Christian Democrats (Dagbladet)

Eva Kristin Hansen, chairman of the Labour Youth League, insists that Labour must not under any circumstances form a coalition government with the Christian Democratic Party. In her view, the Christian Democratic Party attracts only right-wing sympathizers and arch-conservatives, who are prejudiced against homosexuals. "Jens Stoltenberg has clearly stated that the Christian Democratic Party would be a natural cooperation partner, but we strongly disagree. We would be selling our soul, and it would be totally unacceptable for the Labour Party to form a government together with a party that supports the views that the Christian Democrats have clearly identified as their own," said Ms. Hansen.

Expecting victory (Vårt Land)

Valgerd Svarstad Haugland, chairman of the Christian Democratic Party, promises that this time she will manage to set limits for the gambling craze in Norway. She does not want to repeat the defeat in the Storting in 1999, when all the proposals presented by the centrist government to limit the use of gaming machines were rejected except introducing an age limit of 18 years. She believes that during the three years that have passed since then the Storting has become more aware of the problems created by gambling addiction, and that the organizations involved have become more conscious of their own responsibility.

Schengen is tightening border with Russia (Aftenposten)

Over NOK 200 million is now being invested in improving surveillance of the Norwegian-Russian border. Twenty new guardhouses and observation towers have already been built. Eighty km of paths for all-terrain vehicles are currently being constructed, and new six-wheel-drive vehicles and snowmobiles have been purchased. Patrol boats have been ordered. New communications equipment, anti-personnel radar and marine radar systems will soon be in place. Under the terms of the Schengen agreement, Norway must monitor its 196-km-long border with Russia particularly closely. All types of smuggling and illegal immigration are to be deterred.

DnB is unpopular with customers (Aftenposten)

A recent survey reveals that Den norske Bank (DnB) is at the top of the list of banks that customers want to leave. A total of 38 per cent of the bank’s customers cite high interest rates on loans, high fees and poor service as their reasons for wanting to switch banks. The Norwegian Consumer Council is encouraging dissatisfied customers to consider changing banks or using several banks simultaneously. Between 20 and 30 per cent of customers should change banks each year in order to create real competition.

Struggle for Snøhvit ready to begin (Aftenposten)

Starting today, construction work on the Snøhvit gas field will be able to commence without being disturbed. During the week in which protesters demonstrated against construction, the police made 72 arrests. Thirty-three demonstrators have been slapped with fines of between NOK 3000 and NOK 10 000. None of them have accepted the fines, and their trials will begin in mid-August. Both the police and security services providers in Hammerfest can relax. During the past week they have been playing cat and mouse with the protesters. "I hope we won’t be seeing any more of them. They have expressed their views, and now it’s time for them to go home," said police spokesman Morten Daae.

Snøhvit tax rebate is reduced (Dagens Næringsliv)

A number of delays in the Snøhvit project may already have eaten up a third of the tax rebate granted by politicians. If the schedule is to be kept, so that the first gas from Melkøya can be supplied in October 2006, all the construction will have to go more quickly than planned. This may involve working evenings, nights and weekends, which will make the project more expensive. Snøhvit is a gas field in the Barents Sea, and will be the first petroleum facility in the area. The value of the gas is estimated at around NOK 125 billion. Construction will cost NOK 40 billion, and gas ships will cost NOK 6 billion.

1. WORTH NOTING:

1. In July of last year, then Minister of Finance Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen granted tax reductions of NOK 550 million to the Snøhvit project. This was not enough for the oil companies. This past autumn the Storting granted favourable depreciation rules to the project. This is estimated to be worth NOK 1 billion. (Dagens Næringsliv)
2. Although the situation has improved since the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions began its summer patrol in the 1980s, the group is still finding a great deal of corruption in the summer job market. The biggest problem is a lack of contracts. Twenty per cent of summer employees do not have a contract. (Klassekampen)
3. Today students must choose between a fixed or floating interest rate on their loans. However, in the next few years the difference between the two will probably be so negligible that it will not matter which type of loan they choose. (Dagbladet)
4. An increasing number of Eastern European and Baltic women have come to Oslo in the past few years to sell their bodies on the streets and in flats. Now the police have come up with a plan to arrest those responsible for organizing these activities. (Dagsavisen)
5. Single people who apply to adopt children from foreign countries encounter obstacles. Several countries accept only married couples as potential adoptive parents. China, which has until now been among the least restrictive countries, has now decided to introduce quotas that will limit single people’s possibilities of of adopting. (Vårt Land)
6. Last year the owners of the 50 largest Norwegian companies took NOK 37.5 billion out of their companies, compared with NOK 26.2 billion the year before. "They want to avoid paying extra taxes on their profits if such taxes are introduced later," said Managing Director Jan Syversen of the Norwegian Taxpayers Association. (Dagens Næringsliv)
7. The new low-price airline Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) believes that it will get more people to fly, and will thus be competitive in the air. After NAS won the contest determining who would transport government employees, the airline has signed contracts with several other major customers. (Dagsavisen)
8. Øystein Djupedal (Socialist Left Party) is "extremely troubled" by the fact that an increasing portion of the Norwegian financial industry is owned and controlled from abroad. "We are becoming merely a branch-office country," he said. (Dagens Næringsliv)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Aftenposten:

The Directorate of Immigration’s (UDI) plan to establish a reception centre for asylum-seekers with a background of crime and violence and for other people who need to be supervised closely for other reasons, is better late than never. Once this scheme is put into practice, hopefully this autumn, it will improve the situation of the few asylum-seekers who will be affected, the vast majority of other asylum-seekers at reception centres, and the local population living near reception centres. We are surprised that the UDI did not propose the special, or reinforced, reception centres after the Office of the Auditor General pointed out the need for them. This indicates that the previous leaders of the UDI did not give enough serious thought to the challenges presented by asylum-seekers with particularly difficult behaviour and severe mental problems. Safety at the reception centres is essential to enable those asylum-seekers who are entitled to residence permits to use their stay there to prepare themselves as well as possible for a meaningful life in their new home country. Well-regulated conditions at the reception centres are also vital for ensuring that legal immigrants are met with the understanding they deserve by their new countrymen.