Norway Daily No. 39/03
Historical archive
Published under: Bondevik's 2nd Government
Publisher: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
News story | Date: 25/02/2003 | Last updated: 11/11/2006
The Royal Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Oslo
Press Division
Norway Daily No. 39/03
Date: 25 February 2003
LO opts for moderation (Dagsavisen)
The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) is opting
for moderation during this year’s national wage negotiations. But,
in return, the LO is demanding that the Government do more to stem
the rise in unemployment. Behind the LO’s decision is the
assumption that it is the needs of industrial companies facing
tough international competition that must set the pace for
developments in pay levels. LO representatives will also be
demanding specific measures from the Confederation of Norwegian
Business and Industry (NHO), as well as central and local
government employers, to keep executive pay under control. This is
one of the most important premises for the LO’s continued
moderation.
Power overload (Dagbladet)
Petroleum and Energy Minister Einar Steensnæs set aside NOK
50 million in state support for energy-saving measures. This could
prove to be several hundred million too little. Mr Steensnæs did
not expect more than 10,000 people to apply for such grants, but in
under a month 25,000 applications have come flooding in. People are
taking their ‘revenge’ after this winter’s astronomical electricity
price rises. Following the Minister’s announcement that state
grants were available for energy-saving measures, the scheme has
quite simply suffered an overload.
30,000 jobs threatened by EEA Agreement (Aftenposten)
30,000 Norwegian jobs could disappear as a result of the EU’s
demand for the abolition of differentiated employers’ national
insurance contributions. The figures have shocked county
councillors from the four most northerly counties, which alone
could lose at least 20,000 jobs. Four ministries are involved in
the effort to find the best way to compensate for the possible loss
of the differentiated employers’ national insurance scheme. They
have almost exactly one month to come up with a solution. "I am
spending a lot of time on this issue at the moment," said Finance
Minister Per-Kristian Foss.
No! No! No! (Verdens Gang)
The Socialist Left Party’s leadership has said it wants to
make room for all shades of opinion on the question of whether
Norway should join the EU, but none of those who have been proposed
as candidates for the party’s central committee or national
executive committee are in favour of EU membership. "It would be
positively embarrassing if these committees do not have a broader
composition, and it would be very regrettable if the Socialist Left
Party elects a central committee consisting only of EU membership
opponents. It would be very unfortunate for the party. The distance
between the Socialist Left Party’s membership and its voters has
increased in recent years," said Rolf Jørn Karlsen, secretary of
the Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions, member of the
Socialist Left Party and supporter of EU membership.
Opposition stymies Norman’s relocation plans (Verdens Gang)
Labour and Government Administration Minister Victor D.
Norman (Con) wants to relocate eight central government
authorities, with 900 jobs in all, out of Oslo. But the opposition
has put a stop to the overall plan. Only the Centre Party fully
supports the Government on this issue. "We view the eight
authorities as individual cases. The Government has come in for
massive criticism for extraordinarily poor arithmetic when it comes
to working out the costs of relocating these jobs. Mr Norman has
really screwed up in his handling of this affair," said the
Progress Party’s Ulf Erik Knudsen. The hearings held by the
Storting’s Labour and Government Administration Committee on this
matter lasted as late as 9 pm yesterday.
Fiery protest against WTO (Nationen)
More than a thousand bonfires were lit yesterday in protest
against the WTO’s proposed cuts in agricultural support.
Agriculture Minister Lars Sponheim also took part in the protest
action. "I feel it is my duty as Minister to meet farmers when they
are afraid for their futures. Will there be any future for them?
The situation is dramatic for the Norwegian agricultural sector,"
he said. While the farmers lit bonfires against the WTO, former
Labour Agriculture Minister Gunhild Øyangen poured more fuel onto
an already fiery debate. "Norway should support the EU’s position
in the WTO negotiations. I think that farmers in remote rural areas
in particular would benefit from it," she said.
Socialist Left Party surging forward (Dagbladet)
Socialist Left Party leader Kristin Halvorsen puts her
party’s strong rise in popularity in the February poll carried out
by MMI for Dagbladet down to a high level of credibility, good
teamwork and opposition to a war in Iraq. According to the poll,
the Socialist Left Party has the backing of 16.3 per cent of the
voters. "This is probably one of the few occasions when a foreign
policy issue has an impact on voters’ party preferences. There are
many people who share our concern. Our opposition to war in Iraq
reflects the feelings of the majority of the population. But this
is just one of several factors," said Ms Halvorsen. The poll puts
Labour ahead on 26.5 per cent, while the Progress Party stands at
25.3 per cent.
Lack of cash leads to substandard care of the elderly (Dagsavisen)
Three out of five nurses believe elderly people often receive
totally inadequate levels of care at Norwegian nursing homes,
according to a recent survey of nurses. Tight local authority
budgets are the main reason for the poor level of care. "This is a
frightening reality, which it is good that we have been able to
document. The report shows that we must improve manning and
competence levels at the country’s nursing homes, so that sick
elderly people can be given the same medical attention as the rest
of the population," said Bente G. Slaatten, leader of the Norwegian
Nurses’ Association.
Tighter national budget forecast (Dagens Næringsliv)
When the national budget is revised in May, public spending
should preferably be reduced. "Tax revenues are down. The outlook
is that the revised national budget will be used to tighten up
public spending if we are to stick to the regulations governing how
much of Norway’s oil wealth can be spent in the domestic economy,"
said Local Government and Regional Affairs Minister Erna Solberg
during a meeting with the Norwegian Association of Local
Authorities (KS) on Monday. She made it plain that 2003 would be a
lean year, with a downturn in the economic cycle compared to the
two preceding years.
New tobacco brands to be launched (Nationen)
At the same time as the authorities are rounding off their
major anti-smoking campaign, "Gallaher Norway" is promising to
introduce new tobacco brands into the Norwegian market. The world’s
fifth largest tobacco producer is in the process of establishing a
presence in Norway. Gallaher, a UK-based company listed on the
London Stock Exchange, expects to have the new brands in the shops
this spring, and says it has not been put off by the authorities’
aggressive anti-smoking campaign.
Worth Noting
- "The dispute that has paralyzed Nato for almost a month, and
which was sparked by the Iraq crisis, was unnecessary. The dispute
has had an impact. It has undoubtedly weakened Nato’s reputation,"
said Foreign Minister Jan Petersen yesterday, after talks with
senior Nato officials in Brussels.
(Aftenposten) - Norwegian men and women are waiting to receive more than NOK
470 million in compensation they are entitled to. The amount due is
most often the result of a court case in which the judges have
awarded compensation. The problem is that many of those sentenced
to pay compensation are penniless, and have absolutely no
possibility of making restitution.
(Dagsavisen) - 55 per cent of those Norwegian local authorities which have
responded to a survey by the Norwegian Association of Local
Authorities (KS) say they have reduced their education budgets for
2003.
(Aftenposten) - The accounting scandal and the dramatic fall in the share price
of the Dutch supermarket giant, Royal Ahold, are having a negative
impact on the fortunes of Norway’s richest man, Stein Erik Hagen.
The value of Mr Hagen’s 20 per cent stake in the Swedish company
ICA Ahold is directly linked to the price of Royal Ahold shares –
which dropped 63 per cent yesterday.
(Dagens Næringsliv) - For the first time in ten years Norwegian environmental
organizations have seen their membership numbers rise. The
Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature increased its
membership by 2,000, and now has almost 20,000 members. The Future
in Our Hands, Nature and Youth, Greenpeace and the WWF also
recruited more members.
(Vårt Land) - Over the past ten years, Norway has become the Nordic country
that produces fewest PhDs. The reason is that the Storting has not
allocated enough money to achieve the same emphasis on doctoral
research as our neighbours.
(Dagsavisen)
Today’s comment from Dagbladet
By the end of the year unemployment could affect 100,000
people, who all feel marginalized in a society where so much of our
financial security, self-image and sense of belonging is linked to
having a job. Unemployment has risen by almost 40,000 since the
general election, when the Bondevik-led coalition government took
office. The employment situation is uncertain in both the private
and public sectors. The Government is tightening the screw at both
central and local government level in order to make room for major
tax cuts. An abrupt halt to public sector growth is a political
objective for the Government. High interest rates and a strong
exchange rate are pushing Norway’s export industries to the wall.
The level of activity in the oil industry, which has previously
acted as the economy’s engine, has slowed right down. Those in
power should face up to their responsibilities. Everyone in the
Government, from the Prime Minister down, has responded to the rise
in unemployment by pointing out how tight the national budget is
and referring to a one percentage point cut in interest rates. It
is now clear that these measures have come too late, and are too
little to halt the rise in unemployment. The Government has
deliberately chosen to allocate a lot of money for tax cuts, in
line with the Conservative Party’s ideology. This limits its
options in other areas. The link between these two factors is
something the Government’s spokesmen cannot simply magic away. The
unemployed do not deserve the politicians’ current pettifogging.
Instead, legislators should engage in a constructive and open
debate whose objective is not to ‘score points’, but to create
broad agreement on both short-term and long-term measures to reduce
unemployment.
Sport
Nordic Ski World Cup
Women’s relay: Norway wins bronze medal