Finally something for Jens to smile about (Dagbladet)

The Labour Party’s popularity has shot up to 28.6 per cent, according to MMI’s latest opinion poll. This is the best poll result for the party in almost two years. There are fewer indecisive Labour supporters, and the party has stolen votes from the Christian Democrats, Socialist Left Party and, most of all, from the Conservatives. And Labour still has an enormous number of potential votes out there. The Bondevik-led coalition government is struggling harder than ever. The three ruling coalition parties, the Conservatives, Christian Democrats and Liberals, drop 4 percentage points to 23 per cent. At 13.3 per cent, support for the Conservatives has not been this low since the autumn of 2000. The Christian Democrat’s slide continues apace, putting them on 7.6 per cent. For the political left, the good news is that Labour’s increased popularity is not at the expense of the Socialist Left Party, which has gained two percentage points and replaces the Conservatives as the country’s third largest party. The Progress Party has suffered its greatest setback for a long time, but still has the backing of 10 per cent more voters than it had at the last general election.

Opponents take up arms to fight EU membership (Vårt Land/Saturday)

MPs are about to break their self-imposed reticence on EU membership. The Centre Party has changed up a gear and is throwing itself into the battle over Norwegian membership of the EU. The Storting’s debating chamber will be the venue. According to the recent poll by Opinion, 67 per cent of those who have made up their minds are in favour of Norway joining the EU. But MPs and the Government are cautious and are playing down the impression that battle has already been joined in earnest. This is not the attitude in the Centre Party. “The EU will be an extremely important issue for us in the Storting from now on,” said Magnhild Meltveit Kleppa, deputy leader of the Centre Party’s parliamentary group.

No to the EU gets rude awakening (Klassekampen)

Sigbjørn Gjelsvik, leader of the organization No to the EU, is worried that support for Norwegian membership of the EU could put down roots if it is allowed settle too long. This weekend the organization’s board voted to pull No to the EU out of mothballs and engage in the battle to keep Norway out of the EU. “No to the EU views the latest polls as a shot across our bows which is intended to wake us up and get us moving again. We were prepared for the fact that the polls would be influenced by the one-sided celebration of the EU which we have recently seen in the media,” said Mr Gjelsvik.

Socialist Left Party makes room for both EU supporters and doubters (Aftenposten)

Socialist Left Party chairwoman Kristin Halvorsen does not want to be the new No Queen when it comes to Norwegian membership of the EU. She is concerned that the party will lose voters if it appears to be too fundamentalist in its opposition to EU membership. “It would not be difficult for the Socialist Left Party to stand out as an uncompromisingly anti-EU membership party, but if we did our support among the voters would drop to 5-6 per cent. That is not what we want. We must therefore put ourselves across as a party in which there is room for both supporters of EU membership and those who are still in two minds,” she told the party’s national executive committee members this weekend, and was rewarded with a lengthy ovation.

Difficult for centre-left (Dagsavisen/Saturday)

Åslaug Haga, deputy leader of the Centre Party, has slammed the door shut on a centre-left collaboration if the EU becomes a hot political issue. She totally rejects the notion that holding a referendum before an application for membership is sent could be a way to get round the disagreement between the Socialist Left Party, Labour and Centre Party on the issue. “No! That is simply a cheap trick on the part of EU membership supporters. For us it is completely out of the question. Besides, it is a messy way of going about things. It would be quite unnatural for us to join a coalition government alongside parties which support EU membership if that issue is at the top of the political agenda,” said Ms Haga.

We owe NOK 30 billion (Aftenposten/Saturday)

The Norwegian people have amassed bad debts totalling NOK 30 billion. This is three times as much as ten years ago. 170,000 people have been blacklisted. Experts put the increase down to the fact that people today have less of a sense of moral obligation to pay their debts and to a growth in the debt-collection industry. The worst offenders are young newly-weds and single parents. “There is a connection between age and a sense of moral obligation. Young people do not feel that sense of obligation so keenly. But we do not know whether those who are young today will retain that attitude,” said chief researcher Lars Gulbrandsen.

Krekar group suspected of involvement in bomb attack (Aftenposten/Sunday)

The Jordanian authorities suspect that Mullah Krekar’s group was responsible for a bomb attack on a Jordanian anti-terrorist leader, according to a Dutch newspaper. Krekar himself vehemently denies the charge. “I have not been in Jordan. Ansar al-Islam is not allowed into Jordan, and we do not have any supporters there who could carry out such an attack,” he said.

No control over NOK 500 million in foreign aid (Aftenposten/Saturday)

In the past twenty years Norway has donated almost NOK 1 billion in foreign aid to South Africa. But we have had little control over what has happened to NOK 500 million of that amount – often we do not even know what the money has been spent on. This means that Norway has no means of knowing whether the development assistance it has provided has actually helped, states a wide-ranging report on the subject. “Norway has had very great difficulties getting this South Africa project to work,” said Elling N. Tjønneland, who led the effort to evaluate Norway’s foreign aid to South Africa on behalf of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and the South African Ministry of Finance. The report is now under consideration by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry.

NORAD leader disagrees with report (Aftenposten/Sunday)

Tove Strand, head of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), says it was necessary not to keep too strict an eye on the organizations that received development assistance funding in South Africa. She points out that the report does not give any indication that the money has not been used as it was intended, and she disagrees in part with the claim that there has been no control over what the money has been spent on. “We could not continue to pay out money to organizations without operating reports, financial accounts and auditor’s reports telling us what the money had been spent on,” she said. NORAD has now initiated measures to improve coordination between Norway’s embassies and the recipient organizations.

1. Worth Noting

• “The farmers’ organizations will contribute both financially and in terms of human resources to strengthen our side in the EU battle,” said Steinar Dvergsdal of the Norwegian Agricultural Cooperative Movement. Agricultural cooperatives generate sales revenues of NOK 35 billion a year.
  (Verdens Gang/Sunday)
• 200 Russian oil tankers and other ships carrying dangerous cargoes that pose a danger to the environment sailed along the Norwegian coast last year. An accident could have devastating consequences. “The emergency response apparatus along the coastline is not scaled up to tackle a major accident,” said Øyvind Stene, head of the Coast Directorate.
  (Verdens Gang)
• On six separate occasions since the start of the year police and customs officers have stopped what they believe were attempts to smuggle people into Norway. The police think there is an organized network of traffickers who are bringing people to Norway in return for cash.
  (Aftenposten)
• A woman smoker runs twice the risk of contracting lung cancer as a man who smokes the same amount. Not only that, but she will find it more difficult to quit. Scientists believe the female hormone oestrogen is largely to blame.
  (Aftenposten)
• In less than a year time will have run out for smokers at Norwegian restaurants, cafes and bars. The Socialist Left Party has ensured that government proposals for a total ban on smoking at all establishments where food and beverages are served will receive a parliamentary majority.
  (Dagsavisen)
• The two men charged in connection with the Finance Credit scandal were released yesterday after spending two months in jail. The National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime aims to bring the case to court as quickly as possible.
  (Aftenposten)
• “It is a good thing that justice prevailed after so many disappointments,” said Gamal Hosein, who was convicted by the District Court of murdering his wife Gry. Hosein was released from Skien prison yesterday evening pending an appeal hearing in September. He has spent nearly two years on remand.
  (Dagsavisen/Saturday)
• Weak economic growth and rising unemployment mean that interest rates could be cut dramatically, according to economists at DnB Markets. The Norwegian krone could weaken if conditions in the world economy return to normal.
  (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)
• The number of houses and holiday homes being burgled has risen dramatically in the past year. The number of detached houses burgled in the past year rose by 33 per cent, according to figures from the Norwegian Financial Services Association. In 2001, 7,694 owners of detached houses notified their insurance companies that their property had been broken into. In 2002, the number of burglaries looks set to have risen to 10,262.
  (Dagbladet)
• The Church of Norway is worried that it will receive fewer charitable donations following the substantial increase in tax breaks for gifts to voluntary organizations. The Ministry of Finance has, in its wisdom, decided that the Church of Norway is not a voluntary organization.
  (Dagens Næringsliv)

2. Today’s comment from Nationen

No sooner has the issue of EU membership raised its head than the debate starts about the rules of engagement. Should there be one or two referenda? Should they be advisory or binding? How should the Constitution’s protection of the minority be interpreted? Should MPs be forced to vote against their convictions? Many people have already called for a referendum before Norway makes a new application to join the EU. Such a referendum would probably produce a large majority in favour. Nevertheless it is important that the various sides in the EU debate agree on the basic rules. This is perhaps too much to ask, because each side will have its own tactical reasons for the choices they make. But with an issue such as this, it is important to look beyond merely tactical considerations.