PROGRESS PARTY NO BIGGER THAN LABOUR (Nationen)

The Progress Party is now Norway’s largest political party, according to the historic August political barometer from Din Mening/Norsk Statistikk. As Labour Party continued its free fall with a 7.1 point plunge to 22.1 per cent, Progress gained 1.6 points, moving it up to 24.8 per cent. "This warms the heart. Maybe now it’s time for the Progress Party to be heard," says party chairman Carl I. Hagen. Labour has been the biggest party in every Norwegian election since 1927. "These are dramatic figures," says party secretary Solveig Torsvik.

LOCAL LABOUR POLITICIANS SUPPORT NATIONAL TAKEOVER OF HOSPITALS (Aftenposten)

According to a survey by Opinion, 63 per cent of Labour municipal council representatives support the party leaders’ drive to bring the hospitals under state administration. A majority of them also felt the county level of public administration should be dissolved. This survey is based on interviews with 300 municipal council representatives and 80 county council representatives. The survey also reveals substantial differences between Labour’s municipal politicians and county politicians.

COMMISSION PROPOSES SICK PAY CUTS (Klassekampen)

A commission appointed by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs recommends a reduction in sick pay benefits. Instead of today’s 100 per cent from the first day, the committee recommends 80 per cent for the first 15 days. The commission is headed by former Labour Minister of Health Matz Sandman, who supports this proposal and will present it to Minister of Social Affairs Guri Ingebrigtsen on 15 September. Any move by the Labour Government in favour of the measure is bound to provoke the unions and add to the turmoil within the party.

HUGE BUDGET TO BE BALANCED BY STOLTENBERG GOVERNMENT (Aftenposten)

The Government is struggling to find room for its own priorities in the 2001 fiscal budget. The entry into force of a number of measure which have already been enacted, together with climbing social security expenditures, make this a stiff challenge. Today is the second day of a two-day Government budget conference which must settle the most important issues in next year’s budget. The record level of fixed expenditures in the 2001 budget is a heavy burden on Government ministers with long wish-lists for the national budget the Labour Party will be carrying into the coming election campaign.

JAGLAND: DANISH ACCEPTANCE OF EMU WILL AFFECT NORWAY (Aftenposten)

The upcoming EMU referendum in Denmark will add fresh input to the EU debate now gaining momentum in Norway, in the view of Foreign Minister Thorbjørn Jagland. "With 12 new members in the EU and all of our Nordic neighbours in the European Monetary Union, Norway will find itself in an entirely new situation," he says. He went on to point out that if all 12 applicant states join the EU, the EU will border on the Middle East, the Black Sea and Norway.

JAGLAND UNAFRAID OF EU DEBATE (Dagsavisen)

Labour Party chairman Thorbjørn Jagland disagrees with elections analyst Henry Valen, who counsels the Labour Party against reviving the EU debate. In a recent article in Dagsavisen, Mr. Valen characterized Labour’s EU drive as a "gift package" to the political parties which oppose EU membership. He also predicted that Labour’s ratings would decline even further. "This is a description I disagree with entirely. Developments in Europe are going full speed ahead," writes Mr. Jagland in his latest open e-mail letter.

KVÆRNER LEANER BUT MEANER (Dagsavisen)

Kværner chief Kjell Almskog believes the purchase of Kværner’s construction division by Skanska for NOK 4.7 billion will leave Kværner in a stronger position to acquire Aker Maritime."This sale will put us on a strong financial footing. We will be in a better position to further develop Aker Maritime and our own business," says Mr. Almskog, who points out that though both corporations have substantial debts, Kværner will now be "much more solid".

RØKKE SCOFFS AT KVÆRNER SALE (Aftenposten)

Kjell Inge Røkke is not impressed by the sale of Kværner’s construction division. Kværner share prices surged yesterday in response to the sale, increasing the value of Kværner’s offer, but informed sources close to Mr. Røkke said they were shocked at the low price obtained by Kværner.

WORTH NOTING

• Kjell Magne Bondevik will reserve the right to choose who he will appear with in the campaign against Norwegian EU membership. But the centrist alliance’s candidate for prime minister is not getting involved in the argument over whether No to the EU can refuse membership to specific EU opponents. (Aftenposten)
• Used housing prices rose 6.9 per cent from the first to the second quarter this year, and are now nearly 18 per cent higher on the average than they were at this time last year. (Aftenposten)
• Kjell Inge Røkke took liquid assets from Aker RGI to pay his private debts to Den norske Bank (DnB) and Sparebanken NOR. This has given Mr. Røkke new leverage in his fight against Kværner. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• The UN committee which monitors compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has expressed the opinion that racist organizations should be prohibited in Norway. A Norwegian commission is studying legislative measures, though it intends to preserve freedom of association. (Dagsavisen)
• Seven out of ten refugees settled by Norwegian authorities in northern Norway have moved to southern Norway. Many of them state climate as the reason. Half of the refugees located in central and western Norway have also moved. Only 25 per cent of those located in the southeast have moved, and few of these have left the region. (Verdens Gang)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Verdens Gang

Good advice is easy to come by as the budget deadline approaches: economists, interest groups and persons engaged in commercial activities are all eager to share their insights. Most people hope for tax relief and better funding for health and education, but most have resigned. The most sacred ideal in politics is a balanced budget, and we have been told so often that we shall have no other goals before it, that even though we might not understand the litany, we accept it. From the beginning it was so, and thus it shall remain through all eternity. Therefore, acknowledged experts who turn heretic have a tendency to attract attention. Yesterday’s proclamation by Knut Anton Mork, a highly regarded economist, that Norway can afford substantial tax reductions, is an attack on established truth. It also adds fuel to a suspicion taking root in the population: is it really true that one of the richest countries in the world, with nearly NOK 400 billion in the bank, cannot afford to take proper care of its elderly and infirm? No, says Mr. Mork, who proclaims that we can take more money from our petroleum revenues. Mr. Mork points to Sweden, where major tax reductions have been approved, largely for the sake of harmonizing with the EU and to stop the flow of cross-border trade in Denmark. There is a price to pay, though, and that is higher interest rates. One major problem is that most things are more expensive in Norway than anywhere else. Norway’s excise taxes are becoming unique in Europe, with all the consequences this entails for business enterprises and private individuals. But a sudden tax cut will not solve everything by itself. It will take a long-term process which must also include the reduction of an inflated bureaucracy which stifles productivity. The modernization of the public sector championed by the Stoltenberg Government is a good start. Mr. Mork and other heretics are therefore to be commended for their impatient attacks on political traditions which leave little room for revival, and they deserve our encouragement. Somewhere between these two ends of the spectrum lies the solution for our future.

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