THE ROYAL MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Oslo
Press Division

NORWAY DAILY No. 126/00

DATE: 6 July 2000

DIRECTORATE OF IMMIGRATION GIVING PRIORITY TO CRIMINALS (Aftenposten)

The Directorate of Immigration has adopted new guidelines in order to ensure that applications for asylum from criminals are processed in record time. "New procedures will make sure that people who are involved in criminal activities do not stay in the country longer than necessary," says Petter J. Drefvelin, Director General at the Directorate. Extensive white-collar crime, narcotics crimes, violence at immigrant reception centres and murders have made it necessary to process applications for asylum more quickly and efficiently. People whose applications have previously been rejected will also be dealt with more quickly. These comprehensive changes went into effect on 1 July.

PARTY WHIPS CAN STOP PARTIAL PRIVATIZATION OF STATOIL (Dagsavisen)

Opponents of partially privatizing Statoil may be defeated at Labour’s national party congress. A majority of the delegates to the congress are against privatizing Statoil. They may lose, however, because several of Labour’s county branches are refusing to let their members vote as they want. The counties that are in favour of partial privatization, in particular, are using party whips. In the larger counties, where most Labour voters are against privatization, members are allowed to vote freely.

NEW EU REFERENDUM POSSIBLE (Verdens Gang)

Minister of Foreign Affairs and chairman of the Labour Party Thorbjørn Jagland disclosed yesterday in Paris that he finds it difficult to imagine that Norway can remain outside the EU if Sweden and Denmark enter into the comprehensive monetary cooperation. "I cannot rule out the possibility that there will be a new Norwegian referendum during the next Storting period. However, this depends on the EU enlargement process, on whether Denmark and Sweden say yes to the Euro, and on whether the EEA Agreement is weakened further," said Mr. Jagland.

GOVERNMENT IS CLEARING A HANDSOME PROFIT ON HOUSING (Dagsavisen)

The housing crisis in Norway has resulted in 6 000 homeless people. At the same time, the Government is raking in billions of kroner in document fees, VAT and taxes on the buying, selling and maintenance of Norwegian homes. Last year the Norwegian Government received NOK 13.5 billion in fees connected with the sale of dwellings, while its expenses were NOK 10.3 billion.

RENEWED CONFLICT ON PROPERTY TAX (Nationen)

The Ministry of Finance is considering lowering property taxes in outlying districts, while raising them in the cities. Its goal is to achieve a more just system of taxation, in which property taxes are related more directly to the market value of houses. Odd Roger Enoksen, chairman of the Centre Party, is against any changes in taxation. As a result, Labour and Centre, who have agreed on the property tax issue since 1996, are no longer on the same wavelength. "People who own an ordinary home should not have to pay property tax," says Mr. Enoksen.

UELAND DIDN’T HAVE TO FACE HENRIKSEN (Aftenposten)

Ove Fløtaker, member of the board at the Norwegian State Railways (NSB), was board chairman Arent M. Henriksen’s stand-in when negotiations began yesterday between the NSB and former group managing director Osmund Ueland, who was dismissed. Mr. Ueland claims that his dismissal by the board last week was unfair, and has therefore exercised his right to demand negotiations within 14 days after being dismissed.

POLITICIANS ARE TO BLAME (Dagbladet)

The oil companies are blaming the Government. The Labour Party is blaming the oil companies. No matter whose fault it is, the price of a litre of petrol is now 11 kroner. And there it will stay. Only the Progress Party and the Conservative Party want to make dramatic cuts in petrol taxes. "It makes no difference whether the taxes represent 70 or 80 per cent of the total sale amount. When the Government takes so much, the politicians are responsible for the high petrol prices in Norway," says Per-Kristian Foss, Conservative spokesman on finance policy.

TB ON THE RISE (Aftenposten)

During the past two years the number of people with tuberculosis in Norway has increased by over 30 per cent. "In addition to newly-arrived immigrants, the people most vulnerable to the disease are drug abusers and older Norwegians. These three groups all have problems carrying through an effective course of treatment," says Hans Fredrik Jentoft, chief physician at the outpatient department for pulmonary diseases at Haukeland Hospital. Between 20 and 30 people die of tuberculosis in Norway every year.

WORTH NOTING

• Both the police and the Norwegian Organization for Asylum Seekers are pleased that criminals on holiday in Norway will stay as briefly as possible. ( Aftenposten)
• The emergency in Norway’s power supply has now been averted – at any rate, temporarily. So far this year, Norway has exported eight billion kilowatt hours more in electricity than we have imported. Last year, on the other hand, we bought more electricity from abroad than we sold. ( Dagsavisen)
• According to an estimate by the department for disease prevention at Ullevål Hospital, Norwegian hospitals use almost ten per cent of their resources on curing diseases that were contracted by patients while in hospital. This increases the problems of hospitals that are already in dire financial straits. ( Vårt Land)
• Thirty-one per cent more Norwegians than last year think that the petrol tax is more important than any other political issue, according to a poll taken by Norsk Statistikk for the Norwegian Petroleum Institute. ( Verdens Gang)
• Recent figures from Norwegian People’s Aid show that so far this year, 56 people have drowned, compared with 64 at the same time last year. Norwegian People’s Aid has carried out intensive campaigns, but believes that the decline in drownings is due more to the bad weather than to its own efforts. ( Dagsavisen)
• Telenor and its group managing director Tormod Henriksen are avoiding paying taxes in Norway, and can therefore chalk up an extra profit of NOK 320 million. This evasion of taxes is possible because Telenor is renting its Norwegian installations to itself from abroad. ( Dagens Næringsliv)
• Norway and the EU have not reached agreement on the gas market directive. Norway will not manage to introduce the directive by the 10 August time limit. The agreement will probably not be ready until October. Norway is in the same league as Germany and France, who are major consumers. ( Dagens Næringsliv)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Vårt Land:

Ask any Norwegian how much a litre of light milk costs, and it’s not likely he will know the answer. But if you ask him how much a litre of petrol costs, he will snarl angrily, "Eleven kroner and thirty øre". But all the same, he fills up his tank and the State Treasury. Cars may be expensive, but geographical conditions in Norway make them both necessary and treasured items. They actually serve another purpose than merely filling up Government coffers.