HEALTHIER ELDERLY COST LESS (Aftenposten)

Healthcare spending for the elderly is expected to remain stable for many years to come. There may be more of them, but they will be healthier and will therefore cost the taxpayer a lot less than has previously been forecast. This is the conclusion of a team of experts at the Centre for Health Administration. Previous estimates predicted that by 2030 the cost of caring for the elderly would have increased by NOK 10 billion compared to today. The population that will be getting old up to 2030 has enjoyed much better living conditions than those who were old in the 1960s and 1970s. According to Terje P. Hagen, one of the researchers behind the report, this is one of the reasons why today’s elderly are in better physical shape and live longer.

CENTRE PARTY WITH SHARPER PROFILE (Nationen)

The Centre Party has angered the Christian Democrats with its support for a reduction in the additional cash benefit for the under-threes. The party also plans to intensify its campaign against the EEA Agreement and believes the EU is less relevant than ever. Yesterday deputy chairman Aslaug Haga presented the Centre Party’s proposal for a new party programme, saying that a green thread ties the different parts together.

SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO STAY WHILE WAITING FOR RESIDENCY PERMITS (Aftenposten)

The Directorate of Immigration (UDI) has proposed that foreigners planning to marry Norwegians, study or work in Norway should be allowed to stay in the country while they are waiting for their residency permits. The UDI is calling for a dramatic simplification of the system for processing foreigners’ residency applications. "If we are going to meet future demands for internationalization and freedom of movement, the system has to be changed to make it possible," says Peter Drefvelin, head of the UDI.

COMPROMISE ON INVESTMENT COMPANY (Dagsavisen)

The creation of an investment company whose NOK 5 billion capital will come from a mixture of private and public funds has won the backing of a majority in the Storting. The Labour Party, the Centre Party and the Christian Democrats all support the scheme. Following a compromise between the various parties the Government has ensured the creation of the company, but must let the two centre parties decide its investment profile. The Conservatives, Liberals and the Progress Party all oppose the plan. The Government will invest NOK 2,450 million, giving the state a 49 per cent stake in the company. Private investors will control the remaining 51 per cent.

LOSSES AMOUNT TO NOK 80,000 EVERY HOUR (Dagbladet)

The writing is on the wall for crisis-hit airline Braathens. So far this year the company has made an operating loss of NOK 80,000 every hour – 24 hours a day. Braathens’ senior management are nevertheless optimistic and believe things may get a little better. The Dutch airline KLM has made it clear that it does not plan to increase its stake in Braathens from its current level of 30 per cent.

NIGHTMARE FOR HERMANSEN (Dagens Næringsliv)

Telenor and its chief executive Tormod Hermansen have missed the mark completely when it comes to launching the company on the stock market. Share prices are falling and there is a general air of uncertainty in the market. The Oslo Stock Exchange’s IT index fell by over five per cent yesterday and the value of Telenor’s stock has dropped by a third since the summer. The deadline for major investors runs out this afternoon.

GOVERNMENT CUTS CHURCH FUNDING (Vårt Land)

The Government’s "Church and State" report will be laid before the Storting today. The Government no longer wants the state to finance the Church of Norway at the local level. The state’s financial responsibility to the Church of Norway will be limited to the priesthood, the regional and national administrative bodies and the bishops. The Government believes that the remaining church activities should be financed locally, with the local authorities as the most important source of funding.

WORTH NOTING

1. Øystein Hedstrøm has been deleted from the Østfold Progress Party’s list of parliamentary candidates, and may therefore lose his seat at the next general election. Fridtjof Frank Gundersen, another high-profile opponent of the Progress Party’s chairman, will also lose his Akershus seat after having served four terms as an MP. (Dagbladet)
2. The Ministry of Health requires healthcare workers to assist in the administration of the abortion pill. A group of 49 doctors has sent a letter to the Health Minister protesting over what they call an attack on the "right to refuse" provided in the Abortion Act. (Dagsavisen)
3. Kjell Inge Røkke and Aker Maritime will have to make significant concessions to the EU if they are to gain approval for their controlling interest in Kværner. The sale of Aker Maritime’s deepwater division may not be enough. The EU Commission is due to discuss the issue next week, but it will probably take another four months before a final answer is known. (Dagens Næringsliv)
4. This afternoon Foreign Minister Thorbjørn Jagland will present the Government’s report on Europe. It will contain an analysis of the EU’s development since 1994 and the relationship between Norway and the EU. However, the report contains little on how the EU will develop in the future, and even less on how the Government thinks the EU should develop. (Aftenposten)
5. In November’s wake lie washed-out roads and railway tracks, fields of rotting crops buried under a metre of mud and flood-damaged houses it will cost several hundred million kroner to repair. November’s rainfall figures were inconceivably high. (Dagbladet)
6. While the rain continues to pour down over the Southeast, parts of Valdres are about to disappear under mountains of snow. In just a short time more than two and a half metres of snow has fallen in some places. (Aftenposten)

TODAY’S COMMENT FROM NATIONEN

It is Labour Party chairman Thorbjørn Jagland’s big day today. In his role as foreign minister he will be presenting the Government’s report on Europe. It would be hard for a man who is always looking for arguments to prove that Norway would be better off inside the EU than outside to produce any surprises. But maybe he will. Maybe he will finally come clean about the kind of EU he wants Norway to be a part of. That would be good for the debate on Norwegian membership, and is of particular interest ahead of the EU summit in Nice where the framework for the new EU will be drawn up.

NOREG