Conservatives take the lead (Nationen)

Jan Petersen and the Conservative Party have taken the lead over Jens Stoltenberg and the Labour Party. According to the latest opinion poll carried out by Sentio-Norsk Statistikk for Nationen, the Conservatives are Norway’s largest party. According to the poll, support for the Conservatives has jumped 6.4 percentage points to 24.5, while the Labour Party drops 3.2 percentage points to 23.7. "The Conservatives’ key issues have dominated the political agenda, which is why they have gained in the polls," said Labour Party deputy chairman Hill-Marta Solberg.

Full steam ahead (Dagbladet)

According to Dagbladet’s May opinion poll, support for the conservatives continues to increase and now stands at 22.9 per cent – the highest figure for the Conservatives since the 1993 general election. "This is wonderful. Very encouraging! A clear signal that our key messages of lower taxes and better schools are getting through to the people," says Conservative Party chairman Jan Petersen. According to our latest poll the Labour Party is still the largest, with the support of 26.7 per cent of the electorate. This is a drop of 1.5 percentage points from the previous poll.

Supermarket chains promise price cuts (Aftenposten)

The four largest supermarket chains guarantee that customers will receive the full benefit when VAT on food is halved from 1 July. Some of them have asked their suppliers to avoid price rises in the period immediately before and after the implementation of the VAT reform. However, others have already raised their prices and what the guarantee will be worth as the autumn progresses is anybody’s guess.

Public says no to SAS takeover (Dagbladet)

More than half of the Norwegian public is opposed to SAS’s takeover of rival airline, Braathens, according to a nationwide poll carried out by MMI. Most people do not believe that SAS is buying Braathens for the benefit of the customer. Through their answers they have given the Norwegian Competition Authority their full backing to find another purchaser for Braathens.

Lawyers want stricter ethical guidelines (Aftenposten)

The Norwegian Bar Association has asked the Director General of Public Prosecutions and the Norwegian Association of Judges to tighten the regulations regarding the appointment of defence counsel in connection with criminal cases, in order to raise public confidence in the legal system. The Bar Association is concerned about the possibility of there being too close a link between attorneys representing different defendants during a trial. The move has been prompted by the on-going Orderud murder case where the lawyers for two of the defendants share an office.

Demand for more parental involvement (Aftenposten)

Immigrant children are responsible for 67 per cent of the muggings carried out by juveniles in Oslo. From now on the police will contact the parents and let them know that their children are involved in juvenile crime in the hope that the families themselves will intervene. The police therefore back the Commissioner for Children’s proposal for a change in the law that would force passive parents to accept help from the experts.

Statoil flotation costs NOK 800 million (Aftenposten)

Despite the fact that Statoil has been priced lower than first expected, the bill for the flotation remains impressive. It will cost at least NOK 800 million. Statoil’s share of the bill looks set to amount to NOK 300-350 million. The rest will be paid for by the Petroleum and Energy Ministry. How the bill is divided up is in large measure determined by who gets the revenues from the flotation.

Finance Minister prepared to offer more (Dagens Næringsliv)

Finance Minister Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen was willing to make further cuts in the residential property tax. In a last-ditch attempt to win the backing of the Centre Party, Mr Schjøtt-Pedersen offered almost NOK 500 million in additional tax relief. Centre Party chairman Odd Roger Enoksen turned him down.

Worth Noting

• Education Minister Trond Giske looks set to face a new defeat in the Storting. A parliamentary majority wants to permit the establishment of pilot schemes under which colleges of higher education would become independent of state control. Mr Giske is fiercely opposed to such a move. (Dagsavisen)
• If the election results mirror current opinion poll results the Conservatives would win 16 more seats in the Storting, bringing their total to 39. Together, the Conservatives along with the Christian Democrats and the Progress Party, which retain their current position with 26 seats each, would form the only viable majority coalition with 91 of the Storting’s 165 representatives. (Dagbladet)
• More than one quarter of major Norwegian companies do not have a woman on the board or in the senior management team. Kværner and Orkla are among the worst offenders. Trade and Industry Minister Grete Knudsen is calling on the "equal opportunities laggards" to pull up their socks. (Dagsavisen)
• According to the Swedish news channel, Ekonomi 24, Telia, Sonera and Tele Danmark are planning to join forces to create a Nordic telecoms giant. Norway’s Telenor, however, is being kept out. "The Norwegian state has proved itself impossible to negotiate with," said one of the parties to Ekonomi 24. (Dagbladet)
• Just 13 months after he led the biggest acquisition in Norwegian history, Norske Skog’s chief executive, Jan Renås, has secured control of two new paper mills, at a cost of NOK 8.7 billion. Norske Skog is now the world’s third largest producer of newsprint. (Aftenposten)
• In a highly critical analysis Statoil has been hacked to bits by the major international bank, Deutsche Bank, which says Statoil has little in the way of international operations and describes the Norwegian state’s large shareholding as an extremely negative factor. (Dagens Næringsliv)

Today’s comment from Verdens Gang

Unless this year’s round of negotiations results in only a moderate increase in wages, there is a considerable danger that the Norwegian Central Bank will put up interest rates. This warning comes from the boss himself, Svein Gjedrem, the governor of the Norwegian Central Bank, who yesterday expressed his concern about the prospect of a "negotiation driven hike in costs". That is about as clear as it gets, but coming from the governor of the Central Bank the warning is not exactly surprising. Preaching moderation to both sides of the industrial divide is practically part of a central bank governor’s job description. The unusual thing about this warning is that it comes in addition to Mr Gjedrem’s annual address. Since the Central Bank’s objective was changed to that of pursuing a target for inflation, Mr Gjedrem has had a freer hand, which he is already making use of. Another consequence of the change is a far greater emphasis on interest rates, adjustments in which are now the Central Bank’s only tool to fight inflation.