The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Oslo Press Division

Norway Daily No. 67/00

Date: 4 April 2000

BONDEVIK WARNS AGAINST RUSHING INTO EU (Dagsavisen)

Kjell Magne Bondevik warns Labour and the Conservatives both against stressing the EU membership issue. He makes it clear that the centrist coalition is not prepared to support a Government which pushes EU membership. Whether or not the next general election will be an EU election or not depends chiefly on Labour. The Conservatives by themselves will not be able to give this issue sufficient momentum, he says. Mr. Bondevik has observed that Foreign Minister Thorbjørn Jagland seems to be in a much greater hurry then Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg to get Norway into the EU.

CHANGE IN OPINION MUST PRECEDE NEW INITIATIVE (Aftenposten)

Conservative Party chairman Jan Petersen feels EU membership should be put on the political agenda, but he is not interested in initiating a process leading up to a third refusal to join. Mr. Petersen emphasizes that any change in Norway’s association with the EU can only be based on another referendum, and he has no desire for another such referendum at this time. What I would like to see is an open and constructive debate. We have had an EU debate going in Norway since 1994, but it has been limited to the Schengen Convention, the EEA, the veterinary annexes and similar well-defined areas. These are important measures and they are good, but measures of this type do not suffice in all areas. We must recognize that a complete solution does exist, and that this solution is membership, says Mr. Petersen.

AGING WORKERS SHOULD BE KEPT ON THE JOB (Aftenposten)

One of the Labour Party’s working groups would like to encourage employers to hold on to their older employees, and has proposed a payroll tax break or wage support. The group takes the view that making aging labour cheaper for employers is a better application of funds than paying retirement pensions.

REBELLION AGAINST LABOUR SETTLEMENT (Dagsavisen)

The union rank-and-file are not happy with the settlement between the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) and the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO). A number of central worker representatives from various LO unions will meet today to organize a nationwide protest against the results of the mediation. Expansion of the agreement period from two to three years is the worst part of it, tying us to small raises for several years, says Torbjørn Kristoffersen, executive board member for the Norwegian Union of Transport Workers.

FARMERS, TOO, DEMAND FIFTH WEEK OF HOLIDAY (Nationen)

Norwegian farmers following the example of the private sector settlement between the LO and the NHO demand a fifth week of holiday. The Norwegian Farmers’ Union and the Norwegian Farmers’ and Smallholders’ Union will both include this among the demands they will submit for the agricultural settlement in the middle of May. A fifth week of holiday is part of the welfare trend in our society which should also include farmers, says Harald Milli, secretary-general of the Norwegian Farmers' Union.

NORSKE SKOG BIG IN WORLD NEWSPRINT MARKET (Aftenposten)

Norske Skog has set two records in the past 24 hours: the purchase of Fletcher Challenge Paper of New Zealand for the equivalent of NOK 21 billion is a new record in debt acquisition, but it has also made Norske Skog the world’s second largest manufacturer of newsprint. Group CEO Jan Reinås has considerable confidence in this acquisition.

EXPENSIVE CONTRACT DEARER BY THE DAY (Dagsavisen)

Minister of Defence Bjørn Tore Godal announced yesterday that there is no longer any doubt that the frigate contract will be more expensive than anticipated. He will therefore send it back to the Storting in the form of a proposition. The Navy’s project manager, Bjørn Krohn, is angry with the reluctance of the politicians to take a decision. Mr. Krohn says the contract sum grows by one million kroner every day.

WORTH NOTING

• Norway’s six appeals courts depend on the services of retired judges to handle a growing case load. The Norwegian Bar Association finds the situation inexcusable. (Aftenposten)
• Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) president Yngve Hågensen could have an unpleasant surprise in wait when he returns from a trip to South Africa. Representatives of the rank-and-file are mounting a campaign to get members to vote against the wage settlement. If they succeed, there will be a strike. (Dagsavisen)
• Demand for nurses is skyrocketing, but recent figures show that the numbers of nurses being imported from abroad are going down. The other Scandinavian countries need their own nurses themselves. (Aftenposten)
• The percentage of immigrant youth seeking higher education is dropping. The ready market for labour must take part of the blame. (Vårt Land)
• Private individuals in Norway are exploiting the frenzied market for Scandinavian art to sell paintings by Norwegian masters to foreign buyers. No fewer than 26 out of 86 works of art sold at Sotheby’s Scandinavian auction in London were Norwegian. (Verdens Gang)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Aftenposten

Aside from the fact that it is pointless to suggest that Norway should make another attempt to join the EU before a substantial shift in popular opinion takes place, it is reasonably easy to agree with Conservative Party chairman Jan Petersen that the membership debate should begin now. The EU’s emerging defence and security dimension has already led to a different sort of debate in two of the centrist parties regarding our future relations with the EU. We do not rule out the possibility that if Norway, despite its place in the NATO alliance, cannot take care of its own security policy interests outside the EU, the Liberals and Christian Democrats could possibly change their stand on membership. In the longer term, Mr. Petersen could prove to be justified in claiming that defence and security policy in particular render EU membership a necessity. But the risk still remains that a resumption of the old fronts from the last EU referendum in 1994 could create insurmountable obstacles. It is essential at this point to establish enough room to manoeuvre in the next electoral term to propose Norwegian membership of the European Union.