Centre drowning in Conservative wave (Nationen)

While Jan Petersen is riding high on the Conservative wave, the centrist alternative is foundering. The centrist parties as a whole have dropped five percentage points in Nationen’s party poll. "The centre seems to be having a bad day," said an enthusiastic Mr. Petersen. The Conservative Party still enjoys close to 30 per cent voter support, and will keep hammering away at tax issues in its election campaign. Labour has gained slightly in the poll, but still has a long way to go. People want tax relief, but Labour wants to introduce completely new taxes – this time on livestock feed.

Conservative government would threaten counties (Dagsavisen)

If the Conservative party comes into power, it will gradually phase out the counties and merge municipalities, under compulsion if need be. Conservative politician Erna Solberg believes these reforms could save at least one billion kroner. Doing away with the county as a level of government administration was incorporated into the official Conservative Party manifesto in 1996. This spring the Storting dealt with the division of labour between the state, the counties and the municipalities. It decided that the state would take over the hospitals, but that the counties would be given new responsibilities.

NOK 100 billion in Norwegian gas to be sold to Poland (Aftenposten)

Statoil is in the process of concluding a contract for the sale of NOK 100 billion worth of gas to Poland over a 16-year period. Both parties believe that the contract will be signed late this summer, and it is intended to take effect in 2008. After a gradual buildup, Norway will supply Poland with five billion cubic metres of gas per year. According to the terms of the agreement, gas pipelines costing NOK 10 billion will be built from the North Sea through the Baltic Sea and into Poland. This will mean that southeastern Norway will have better access to gas, and that more gas can be sold to Sweden. According to Aftenposten’s sources, gas must be sold to Sweden if the new pipeline is to turn a profit.

Half price for Statoil listing (Dagens Næringsliv)

The 15 stockbroking firms that listed Statoil will earn NOK 408 million in commissions at the most. If the price of Statoil shares had been higher, and more shares had been sold, they could have split a record profit of NOK 800 million between them. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is now assessing whether the brokerage houses did a good enough job to warrant the payment of such a high fee. In addition, the internal distribution of the fee must be negotiated.

EU: cash benefits for everyone (Aftenposten)

The EU and the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) want all Norwegians to be treated alike, and are dissatisfied with the fact that Norway refuses to grant cash benefits to Norwegians living abroad. The ESA takes the view that these payments are a social benefit comparable to other national benefits that Norwegians abroad are entitled to. But the Norwegian Government disagrees. Now this matter may go to the EFTA Court.

Pillory may be brought back (Aftenposten)

In future, publicizing the names of minor criminals may be considered a suitable punishment for their crimes. This would give the police more time to spend catching major lawbreakers. Now a committee headed by Assistant Director General of Public Prosecutions Hans-Petter Jahre is considering whether it is necessary to prosecute people guilty of minor crimes. The committee will ponder whether other methods of punishment, such as coercive fines, withdrawal of licences, relevant disqualifications and releasing the names of petty criminals to the public may be equally effective reactions.

Worth Noting

• The Prime Minister’s "news" about UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s visit to Norway has been on the agenda of the Storting’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs since May. "I am surprised that the Prime Minister is publicizing a three-month-old news item when he should have other, more pressing matters to bring to the public eye," said Jan Petersen. (Aftenposten)
• There will be a new round of discussion in the Orkla and the National Insurance Fund boardrooms concerning the sale of Storebrand shares to Sampo. The outcome of the new deliberations in both companies is up in the air. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• SAS is awaiting the judgement of the Norwegian Competition Authority as to whether it will be allowed to acquire Braathens, conditionally or unconditionally. In any case, the airline has made its plans: first the company’s resources will be distributed more effectively to avoid duplication of routes. Then the company will be streamlined. (Dagbladet)
• Norway’s trade with other countries showed a surplus of NOK 16.4 billion in May. This is an increase over May of last year, when Norway earned NOK 15.8 billion. Norwegians invested NOK 33.4 billion abroad in May, while preliminary figures for foreign investment in Norway for the same month are estimated at NOK 11.9 billion. (NTB)
• Our popularly elected officials believe that we must deport foreign nationals who have been convicted of a crime in Norway, even if this affects their children adversely. The Socialist Left Party will take this matter up in the Storting. (Vårt Land)
• Norwegians bought NOK 208 million worth of alcohol in Sweden during the first half of this year. This is a new record. "Alcohol prices must go down," said Labour politician Grethe Fossum. (Dagsavisen)
• The City of Oslo has avoided a full investigation by the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) into the sale of 1744 hospital residences. But the ESA says that the sale cannot be completed until it has given the go-ahead. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• The value of works of art, collector’s items and antiques that are bought and brought into Norway has increased sharply. The import of artworks during the first half of this year has exceeded that of the entire year of 1999. Exports of Norwegian art are over three times more valuable than imports. Since January 1999, Norwegian art worth NOK 665 million has been sold out of the country. Auction firms are surprised by these figures. (Aftenposten)
• The wedding of the Crown Prince in August will be a well-documented affair. A total of 971 journalists and photographers have been accredited. (Aftenposten)

Today's Comment from Aftenposten:

We can be quite certain that the UN’s experienced Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, will exhibit greater diplomatic tact when he arrives on an official visit to Norway three weeks before the general election than Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg did two days ago. It is not customary for a visit of this nature to take place so close to a national election. In these cases heads of state and international organizations are usually circumspect, because they do not want to get involved in others’ election campaigns. Mr. Stoltenberg has confirmed in a very convincing manner that the temptation to "use" a guest in an election campaign can be irresistible. He is portraying Mr. Annan’s visit as having come about at the last minute, and is letting it be known that the presence of the Secretary-General in Norway can serve as a reprimand to the Conservative Party for wanting to cut back on Norway’s automatic development assistance to Africa and questioning whether these billions of kroner might be better spent in a neighbouring country – Russia, for example. In fact, Mr. Annan’s visit has been planned for a long time. It has been on the Storting’s agenda for around three months. It is clear that prominent foreign guests can lend lustre to their hosts, who are the government in power at any given time. But a wise politician who is in control of his campaign nerves lets this happen quietly, secure in the knowledge that trying to force his message into the public eye could prove counterproductive. The only real surprise in Mr. Stoltenberg’s announcement of Mr. Annan’s visit is that the pressure the Prime Minister is under is so great that he is now unable to take up a position among these wise politicians.