Hagen hopes for negotiations with Christian Democrats (Dagsavisen)

Progress Party chairman Carl I. Hagen has not abandoned his dream of joining a post-election government. He believes the Christian Democrats may be forced to negotiate with him if the Progress Party wins enough votes. "If the Progress Party’s election results are strong enough it will be difficult for the Christian Democrats to avoid negotiating with us," he said. However, he does not believe the Conservatives will dump the Christian Democrats and turn instead to the Progress Party for support. "No, I don’t think there is any chance of that happening unless the Conservatives and the Progress Party together make up a majority in the Storting," said Mr Hagen.

Control of Norway’s Russian border weakened (Aftenposten)

Norway’s border with Russia at Sør-Varanger is regarded as the Schengen area’s outer perimeter. This means that Norway has a special responsibility to keep a check on this 196 kilometre stretch of border. Surveillance of the border should therefore have been stepped up significantly, with the use of heat and motion sensitive cameras and radar equipment being particularly important. The task of purchasing this equipment, along with a NOK 46 million budget, was given to the Royal Army Logistics Command. It now appears that none of those suppliers whose tenders for the contract were approved can supply the equipment for less than NOK 180 million.

Housing crisis can be solved by force (Dagsavisen)

More people than ever before are looking for a place to live. At the same time there is less and less local authority-owned accommodation for rent in the country’s cities. To solve the housing crisis a Government appointed commission is now considering whether to recommend the introduction of legislation to force local authorities to designate land for housebuilding. Experience shows that many local authorities are not sufficiently interested in taking their share of the responsibility for improving the country’s overall housing situation. An alternative solution to legislation is to give the local authorities advantageous financial terms. The Housing Commission will probably propose the creation of specific loan and subsidy schemes.

Fewer and more expensive farmers with EU membership (Nationen)

As a member of the EU, Norway would have had fewer farms, fewer people employed in the farming industry, but approximately the same level of production – provided that government subsidies had increased at the same rate as they have in Finland. This is the conclusion of researcher Klaus Mittenzwei following a report from the Norwegian Agricultural Economics Research Institute on developments in the newest EU member countries.

Accident statistics lie (Aftenposten)

More than 30,000 traffic accidents are not recorded in the official statistics. According to official figures, 12,000 people were injured on the roads last year. Figures from Norwegian hospitals, however, show that almost 45,000 people are injured every year. One reason for the discrepancy is that many injuries go unreported. Among those who do not report their injuries are cyclists and pedestrians.

Way ahead cleared for Norwegian gas-fired power stations (Dagsavisen)

Following the finalization of the Kyoto climate-change agreement on Monday, both Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Environment Minister Siri Bjerke have said they will push ahead with plans to built gas-fired power stations in Norway. "At the moment the prospects for gas-fired power stations in Norway are looking good," said Kjell Thorsen, an energy expert with the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE). However, for the construction of gas-fired power stations to be commercially viable, electricity prices must remain high.

Parties not spending enough on election campaigns (Vårt Land)

Election pundit Frank Aarebrot says Norway’s political parties are not spending enough on their election campaigns, in relation to the importance of an election to them. This summer and autumn the seven largest parties are planning to spend around NOK 38.5 million on their campaigns. "This corresponds to the annual salary of just 20 middle managers," said Mr Aarebrot.

Minister changes stance on hemp (Dagbladet)

Despite the objections of both the Social Affairs Ministry and the narcotics police, Agriculture Minister Bjarne Håkon Hanssen has said that the Norwegian farming industry could have a need for hemp. Norwegian cultivation of hemp dates back further than both potato and carrot growing, but the plant has been banned for decades. Agriculture Minister Bjarne Håkon Hanssen now wants to change all that. "If the EU can manage to handle both legal and illegal cannabis, we ought to be able to do so in Norway too," said Mr Hanssen, whose new-found enthusiasm for hemp goes against current agricultural policy, social policy and criminal justice policy – all at once.

Worth Noting

• If Conservative Party chairman Jan Petersen becomes prime minister after the election he will be the first person with no previous experience of government to do so for almost 30 years. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Norwegian motorists put their foot to the floor and fill the Government’s coffers with cash. Receipts from fines have increased by 25 per cent this year, due to more frequent police speed controls, additional automatic speed cameras – and more affluent motorists. (Verdens Gang)
• Three members of the board of the oil company, DNO, stand to receive a payout worth millions of kroner if they are voted off the board by the annual general meeting. "I have never heard of such an agreement before," said Harald Norvik, chairman of the Oslo Stock Exchange. (Dagens Næringsliv)

Today’s comment from Dagens Næringsliv

State aid to newspapers could become a major stumbling block for the establishment of a coalition between the Conservatives and the Christian Democrats, according to the Conservatives’ media policy spokesperson, Trond Helland. The Conservatives want to abolish state aid to newspapers, while the Christian Democrats want the scheme to be given long-term protection. However, it should be possible to achieve a creative compromise on this issue. There are strong arguments in favour of abolishing direct state aid to newspapers. It has not worked as intended. State aid was introduced in the 1960s to avoid individual newspapers gaining a monopoly on news distribution in a particular local area. Since then the media scene has been fundamentally transformed. Despite state aid, newspapers stuck in the number two position in their local markets have gone to the wall in droves. Given that the NOK 235 million in direct state aid to newspapers is a relatively small sum, and since the issue is mainly one of principle, it should be possible to reach a compromise between the Conservatives and the Christian Democrats. Spend the money, but spend it better. If we are going to spend money to stimulate the freedom of speech, let us at least get as much free speech, opinion and entertainment as we can from it. Dear Conservatives, dear Christian Democrats, give us at the very least a scheme which acts as a cultural petri dish – not a media policy pacemaker.