Labour initiative could topple Government (Dagsavisen)

Labour leader Jens Stoltenberg has indicated that a new application to join the EU could be sent as early as the end of 2004 or beginning of 2005. “Labour is the only party to have given itself some elbow room in its manifesto for this parliamentary period. I envisage a situation in which Labour could recommend at our next national conference in the autumn of 2004 or the winter of 2005 that an application should be sent. If the national conference says yes to a new application, I do not see any reason to wait any longer in sending it off,” said Mr Stoltenberg. If Labour is really serious about forcing the pace with regard to EU membership, the Bondevik government will be placed in a difficult position. The Government’s political platform includes a “suicide pact” between the anti-EU Christian Democrats and the pro-EU Conservatives to the effect that the ruling coalition would be dissolved the instant EU membership became a red-hot political issue.

New battle over EU membership (Aftenposten)

Labour is now girding up for a new battle over Norwegian membership of the EU. The new “generalissimo” is Jens Stoltenberg’s old friend and party colleague Bjarne Håkon Hanssen. The MP from North Trøndelag voted no to EU membership at the last referendum. Now he has moved into the ranks of the undecided and is set to lead the party’s new EU committee. “I think we should take the opportunity for a little indecision in order to take another look at all the various different aspects of the EU. I will make up my mind when the committee has completed its work,” said Mr Hanssen yesterday. If Euro-sceptic Bjarne Håkon Hanssen changes his mind and comes down in favour of EU membership, it could provide a fillip to EU supporters.

Bondevik demands new UN resolution (Dagsavisen)

Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik (Chr.Dem) has now put his foot down and is demanding a new UN Security Council resolution before the commencement of any armed intervention against Iraq. The PM is now crystal clear on this issue, after several heavyweight social commentators accused him in the media of being vague on this crucial question. Yesterday that vagueness was brought to an end. “With regard to the demand for a UN Security Council resolution, any action by the international community must be sanctioned by a UN Security Council resolution. It is obvious that I think we have to have a new resolution,” said Mr Bondevik yesterday.

Call for clear answers (Vårt Land)

Church leaders have not been reassured by Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik’s statement of his position on the threat of war against Iraq. They are demanding that Norway says no to the USA and the UK going to war by themselves. The PM’s critics are also demanding a clear answer as to how the PM would respond in the event of a pre-emptive strike. “We cannot simply wait around for the UN’s response. We must know if we have already given approval to a first-strike offensive,” said Olav Fykse Tveit, secretary general of the Church of Norway Council on Foreign Relations.

All set for zero wage settlement (Dagens Næringsliv)

There are strong indications that the Government, employers and unions will reach agreement on cooperation over this year’s national wage negotiations. That means lower pay rises for most of us. Many people may not get any pay increase at all this year. Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, Gerd-Liv Valla, president of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), Finn Bergesen Jr, president of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO), and other leaders representing both employers and employees are due to meet at 11.30 this morning. A committee led by Labour and Government Administration Minister Victor D. Norman has been working on a solution for several weeks. There are strong indications that Mr Norman has succeeded and that the Bondevik government will be able to announce details of the agreement this afternoon.

Statistics Norway boss recommends interest rate cut (Aftenposten)

The Norwegian Central Bank has set its inflation estimate too low, according to Svein Longva, chief executive of Statistics Norway. This means that the Central Bank has set interest rates at a higher level than they would otherwise have been, he points out. Mr Longva believes that the Central Bank’s wage calculations should result in an inflation estimate of more than 2.5 per cent, which is the target that guides the Central Bank today. A growth estimate of 3.0 per cent could mean interest rates at a level 1.5 percentage points lower than they would otherwise have been. The executive committee of the Norwegian Central Bank meets today to decide whether to cut interest rates or not.

Assistance to northern regions best in Norway (Nationen)

There is no doubt about it – regional assistance to northern areas gives the biggest benefits to Finnmark. Northern Finland comes in second, while Sweden trails along in last place among the Nordic countries when it comes to providing assistance to their northern regions. The researchers who have compiled the report have calculated that every individual over the age of 18 living in Finnmark and Northern Troms receives NOK 33,345 (EUR 4,446) per year in government assistance, from a variety of regional and local schemes. The population in the remotest areas of Lappland receives less than half that amount, EUR 2,035 in total, from the Finnish authorities and the EU’s regional fund. People in the rest of Lappland receive EUR 1,920.

Hermansen brought in as public service troubleshooter (Aftenposten)

In April, former Telenor chief executive, Tormod Hermansen, will embark on a study of four or five public service bodies to see how they can be simplified and made more efficient. According to TV2, the Directorate of Labour, the National Insurance Service, and the country’s social services offices are among the bodies which can expect a visit from Mr Hermansen. “Few people know the public service sector better than Tormod Hermansen,” said Labour and Government Administration Minister Victor D. Norman yesterday. Mr Norman believes that the biggest impact will come from changing and improving Norway’s public service sector management.

Retailers stay shut despite being allowed to open round the clock (Verdens Gang)

Retailers will now be allowed to stay open around the clock. But even so, none of the major supermarket chains is planning to let its customers stock up at midnight. The Storting’s Family, Cultural Affairs and Government Administration Committee agreed yesterday to repeal the legislation regulating shop opening hours. Retail outlets will now be allowed to stay open around the clock on weekdays, but there will be no change in opening hours on Sundays and public holidays, when shops will have to stay shut. However, the current exceptions to the rules on opening hours will remain in effect.

Worth Noting

• “The most important thing is for the Labour Party itself to find out where it stands on EU membership,” said Conservative Party chairman Jan Petersen, who denied that Labour has stolen the Conservatives’ thunder with regard to the EU.
  (Aftenposten)
• Thorbjørn Jagland is afraid of the consequences should the USA and the UK attack Iraq without the support of the UN. “It would be the worst thing that could happen,” he said.
  (Aftenposten)
• Even men who have themselves taken the initiative to seek help after acting violently towards their female partners must wait three months for treatment. “The delay can lead to a situation where things explode and could lead to a tragic outcome for the men’s families,” warns the leader of Norway’s only support centre for men.
  (Dagsavisen)
• Children and Family Affairs Minister Laila Dåvøy has promised that in cases where children are exposed to violence, the help services will no longer be able to hide behind their duty of confidentiality. “Women’s refuges will have a duty to notify the child protection service when children move back to a violent father,” she said, well aware that not all women’s refuges will welcome such an order.
  (Aftenposten)
• Few women in senior executive positions and few rape cases that end in conviction, are issues that make the UN ponder the level of gender equality in Norway. Children and Family Affairs Minister Laila Dåvøy and her delegation had to answer 250 detailed questions when they were “interrogated” by the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
  (Aftenposten)
• Defence Minister Kristin Krohn Devold’s handling of the extremely controversial sacking of a Ministry official has come under heavy fire. She now risks being forced to explain herself at an open hearing of the Storting. Revelations to emerge from such a hearing could prove embarrassing to the already embattled Minister.
  (Dagbladet)
• The promised drop in the number of people taking sick leave will come today, according to Arild Sundberg, head of the National Insurance Service. He is giving the credit to the agreement between the Government, employers and unions on an inclusive working environment.
  (Dagsavisen)
• Seafood exporters lost an incredible NOK 2.4 billion because of the strong Norwegian krone in 2002, according to calculations from the Norwegian Seafood Export Council. The calculations show that the biggest loss, on sales of salmon, amounted to NOK 905 million.
  (Aftenposten)
• Hang on to your hats. You and I bought half a million cartons of wine in Strømstad, just over the Swedish border, last year. The largest wine and spirits retailer in the Nordic region has set another new record. We stocked up on three million litres of wine and over 1.6 million litres of beer in the Swedish border communities that make their living off Norwegian shoppers. Another new wine and spirits outlet was opened in Strømstad just before Christmas.
  (Verdens Gang)

Today’s comment from Dagbladet

Justice Minister Odd Einar Dørum said yesterday that he would like to know more before making up his mind whether it is possible to prevent the kind of killings in which a whole family is wiped out. An alarming number of such killings have been committed in recent weeks. It is an initiative which deserves support. Norway today is more socially divided, and is suffering from a tougher labour market and greater uncertainty about the efficacy of the social safety net than it was years ago. It could also seem as though the local community’s immediate and automatic concern for neighbours, friends and family has diminished. In his efforts to wrestle with these cases, Mr Dørum could also address the fact that Norway is a country whose population is armed to the teeth. Half a million shotguns are lying around in people’s homes, together with an enormous number of hunting rifles. Not to mention the fully operational automatic weapons that Norway’s army reservists have so far stored at home.