EU SATISFIED BY NORWAY’S PROMISE ON EEA (Aftenposten)

Following yesterday’s meeting of the EEA committee, the Government has announced that during the autumn it will ensure that Norway approves the majority of sensitive EU directives which have not yet been passed into Norwegian law. The EU will therefore not be forced to get tough.

CRITICISES LABOUR (Dagbladet)

Labour Party leader Thorbjørn Jagland would like to breathe new life into the much criticised consultative councils from his days as prime minister. "There is too much in-breeding in the Oslo Labour Party," says the party leader. On his way to a party meeting in Stavanger, Jagland made a strong attack on how the political system has developed. He supports the analysis of, among others, professor Knut Heidar: that the grassroots level is withering away and that an elite is taking over.

PUTTING EU BEFORE NORWAY (Nationen)

The Norwegian Farmers’ Union accuses Foreign Minister Thorbjørn Jagland of paying more attention to EU interests than to Norwegian jobs. Mr Jagland has been met with massive protests after he, on his own initiative, promised Sweden reduced customs tariffs on food products. Other Norwegian business leaders have also said that Mr Jagland’s proposal will weaken Norwegian competitiveness.

SPLIT CENTRE PLEDGES TO COOPERATE (Aftenposten)

The response of the centrist parties with regard to the Government’s budget proposal shows that they may have a tough job ahead of them, but they have pledged to work in concert. The Government, and the prime minister in particular, have repeatedly made it clear that the Labour Party would like to cooperate with the centre over the budget. Centre Party leader Odd Roger Enoksen says that the Labour Party has little to gain by trying to drive a wedge between the parties of the centre. He admits that the centrist parties have different priorities, but he nevertheless believes that they have more to gain by working together.

TRADE UNION MOVEMENT ADMITS IT WAS WRONG (Dagsavisen)

The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions has responded to criticism from the Centre for Combating Ethnic Discrimination (CCED) and has already started working to combat discrimination in the workplace. In yesterday’s Dagsavisen, CCED leader Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen criticised the trades union movement for neglecting to follow up on discrimination in the workplace. The Confederation of Trades Unions, which with 800,000 members, is the largest of the country’s employee organisations, is taking the criticism seriously and admits that it has not done enough in this area.

MEDICAL ASSOCIATION WANTS END TO USE OF "R MINUS" (Aftenposten)

While the Norwegian Board of Health has demanded specific routines for the use of "R minus", the Norwegian Medical Association is calling for the practice be abandoned. "The practice of using "R minus" is not appropriate. It can quickly become the basis for wrong decisions," says Norwegian Medical Association president Hans Petter Aarseth. He believes that every situation must be judged individually. The Norwegian Board of Health is currently trying to find out what routines for using "R minus" exist in Norwegian hospitals.

POLITICAL ANGER AT COST OF NEW OPERA (Dagsavisen)

The Conservative Party and the Progress Party are angry that the price of the new opera-house at Bjørvika in Oslo will be NOK 250 million more than planned. They are now thinking of staging a second round of battling over the Bjørvika opera-house. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs announced on Monday that the opera-house will cost over NOK 2 billion after the winning design, created by the architectural firm Snøhetta, has been adjusted to the jury’s requirements. The Labour Party assumes that parliament will grant the extra NOK 250 million.

KORSVOLD POWERLESS (Dagens Næringsliv)

Åge Korsvold has no influence on the many individual investments made by the Storebrand group of companies. Storebrand’s lawyers are currently working flat out to prove it. According to the company, it is executive vice president Allan Åkerstedt who is supreme when it comes to the day-to-day management of NOK 154 billion. Leader of the company’s employee representatives, Arild Thoresen, is concerned that Storebrand will lose public confidence and customers as a result of Mr Korsvold’s stock options.

WORTH NOTING

1. According to the oil companies, the average price of North Sea oil this year will be the highest for 16 years. The price will probably be NOK 253 per barrel. That is twice as much as the Government predicted when it presented its budget a year ago, reports NRK. The high oil prices mean that the oil fund will increase this year from NOK 200 billion to NOK 400 billion. (NTB)
2. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is thinking of spinning off the profitable gas transport systems into a separate company. Statoil boss Olav Fjell is fighting to keep hold of the income, worth billions of kroner, from the pipelines that carry the gas to the European markets. (Dagens Næringsliv)
3. Expectations regarding tomorrow’s national budget are not high, even among those who, according to the many leaks, should come off as winners in the budget stakes. (Vårt Land)
4. The medical profession is unhappy with the Norwegian Board of Health. Several doctors and researchers believe that the Board of Health does too little to improve the quality of treatment offered by the health service, reports NRK. Acting health director Lars Hanssen rejects this criticism. (NTB)
5. VAT on the travel industry will bring it to its knees in rural Norway. According to the industry itself, North Norway could lose 3,500 tourist industry jobs if parliament says yes to VAT. (Nationen)
6. Trade and industry minister Grete Knudsen is asking Norwegian shipping lines to begin replacing life-jackets immediately. The new standards for life-jackets, which were developed after the Sleipner accident, will probably not come into force before March next year. (NTB)
7. The Government is proposing the creation of 35 new positions for pastors in the Church of Norway in next year’s national budget. The last government, led by Christian Democrat Kjell Magne Bondevik, proposed no new such jobs in its budget.
8. Swedish craftsmen and nurses are returning to Sweden in droves. A couple of years ago they escaped from unemployment in Sweden to a secure job in Oslo. The head of the county’s employment office is worried. Oslo’s hospitals are now turning to the Baltic countries to fill the gap left by the returning Swedish nurses. (Aftenposten/Aften

TODAY’S COMMENT FROM DAGBLADET

Today is the official opening of parliament which will embark on an autumn session that appears unusually unpredictable. The dramatic changes in the polls according to which the Progress Party has become the country’s largest party, has added to the uncertainty. The centrist government of Kjell Magne Bondevik started this parliamentary period and showed that it could govern. At the moment Mr Bondevik would be a far more preferable prime minister than Jens Stoltenberg, and a centrist government has greater support than the sitting Labour government. But no opinion polls can change the composition of parliament. However, someone may be tempted to bring about a political crisis, for example over the budget which is presented tomorrow. To the extent that Mr Bondevik is one of those who may be tempted, he should heed what he has previously said – that frequent changes of government are not good for the country – and ensure that the country does not get a new, weak minority government. A second Bondevik government should have a stable majority behind it in parliament.

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