Stoltenberg: campaign promises are not too costly (Aftenposten)

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who is also an economist, denies that it will be impossible for Labour and the Conservatives to keep their campaign promises, as Professor Fritz C. Holte claimed in Aftenposten yesterday. Mr. Stoltenberg does not agree that the welfare society demands so much money and manpower that it presents a threat to the creation of wealth. On the contrary – in his view the welfare state promotes economic growth. Nor do Professor Holte’s colleagues agree that the economy professor’s criticism of the Labour Party’s campaign promises is justified.

Petersen still a candidate for prime minister (Aftenposten)

Conservative Party chairman Jan Petersen has categorically denied that the party has already designated Kjell Magne Bondevik as prime minister if the Conservatives and Christian Democrats form a government coalition. Yesterday Verdens Gang stated that this was the party’s strategy according to "highly-placed sources in the Conservative Party", but Mr. Petersen asserted in no uncertain terms that he is unaware of any such strategy. "We are nowhere near any decision on anything, quite simply because there is nobody sitting on the other side of the negotiating table. If negotiations take place, they will do so on the basis of election results," said Mr. Petersen.

Close calls to be kept under wraps (NTB)

The Civil Aviation Authority wants to keep near accidents from the public. It feels that the public misunderstands these incidents, and there are concerns that the airlines are not reporting everything that happens because they are afraid of public reactions. If these close calls are not publicized, more of them might be reported, in the view of the Civil Aviation Authority. "We want to allow a higher degree of confidentiality because we have observed that incidents are misunderstood when they are presented to the general public. There is some risk that airlines hold back information in order to avoid punitive reactions from us," said Director Per-Arne Skogstad to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. The Ministry of Transport and Communications takes a positive view of the proposal to keep these incidents confidential. But Oddvar Nilsen, chairman of the Storting’s Standing Committee on Transport and Communications, is far from enthusiastic about the proposal.

Bureaucratic paperwork resists change(Nationen)

Small enterprises are now using one minute less per month to fill out government forms. This is the result of the public sector’s highly publicized campaign to combat bureaucratic paperwork so far this year. Companies and the self-employed were confronted with five additional government forms during the first half of this year. Altogether there are now 665 different government forms for the commercial sector to keep tabs on. This is 80 more than the number registered three-and-a-half years ago when Lars Sponheim, then Minister of Trade and Industry, declared war on bureaucratic paperwork.

Getting rich on government subsidies (Aftenposten)

The fish farming industry has become Norway’s major new growth industry. In the 1980s fish farmers foundered in droves, but last year the industry reached new heights. These developments are mainly due to the scarcity of salmon and the high prices it commands. The price of salmon increased by an average of 16 per cent, while production costs dropped. The 850 government concessions, originally distributed to fish farmers for free, have now become Norway’s most lucrative securities. Today a concession can be sold for NOK 30 – 40 million. This means that fish farmers are worth NOK 25 – 30 billion in concessions alone.

Record-high loans available from State Housing Bank (Dagsavisen)

The Norwegian State Housing Bank has hundreds of millions of kroner just waiting to be granted to prospective homeowners. Although 85 per cent more people have already received mortgages on used homes than at this time last year, there is still a total of NOK 680 million that has not yet been distributed. "The high house-building rate should not benefit the wealthy alone," said Minister of Local Government and Labour Sylvia Brustad. People who previously would not have been granted mortgages by the State Housing Bank are now able to obtain financing for their homes through the Bank.

Foreign investors buying up Norwegian industry (Klassekampen)

A third of Norway’s major industrial groups were owned by foreign investors in 1999. Statistics Norway reports that there was an increase in foreign ownership of Norwegian industry throughout the 1990s. Yesterday Statistics Norway released statistics showing that the influence of foreign owners in Norwegian industry is increasing. In these statistics a company is defined as being under foreign ownership if the largest foreign owner controls, directly or indirectly, 50 per cent or more of the company’s shares. In 1999 one out of five industrial workers was employed by a foreign-owned company. In the same year almost 30 per cent of industrial and mining production in Norway was carried out by these companies.

Worth noting

• Liberal Party politician Odd Einar Dørum is the top choice of Conservative leaders as Minister of Justice in a new government. In the view of high-ranking Conservative politicians, Mr. Dørum did such a good job as Justice Minister in the last centrist coalition that they would rather appoint him to the post than a member of their own party. (Verdens Gang)
• The Norwegian Government should not get involved in the Sampo matter, in the view of Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen of Finland. Mr. Lipponen feels that Nordic mergers are necessary in order to be able to compete with US and European industrial giants. (Dagsavisen)
• A recent report from the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs reveals that around 1000 people under the age of 67 are living in nursing homes or old-age homes. The Ministry now regards it as the sole responsibility of the municipalities to move young people out of these homes. (Vårt Land)
• Kaci Kullman Five is stepping down as group CEO of Aker RGI, where she has been employed since 1998. In the future she intends to accept board appointments and work as a consultant in the private sector. (NTB)
• While over half of other top European business executives spend more than 45 hours a week on the job, only one out of three Norwegian executives does the same. So the situation of Norwegian executives is not entirely bleak, despite yesterday’s report in Dagens Næringsliv that Norwegian business executives are international losers in terms of salaries. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• After a significant drop in the number of taxi robberies toward the end of the 1990s, preliminary figures show that 2001 could set a new record. But robbers avoid taxis equipped with video surveillance systems. (Aftenposten)
• The Norwegian Design Council has established a new international award with the intention of improving the visibility of Norwegian design. The new prize, called the International Design Award, will be given to a Norwegian designer who has been hired by a foreign business to develop a new product. (Aftenposten)

Today's comment from Dagsavisen

Intensive lobbying activities are currently under way against the Norwegian authorities in the Sampo matter. In today’s edition of Dagsavisen Paavo Lipponen, the Finnish prime minister, has clearly requested his Norwegian counterpart, Jens Stoltenberg, to keep his hands off this matter. Mr. Lipponen does not mention this specific acquisition bid, but reading between the lines it is easy to see that he would like Sampo, the Finnish financial services company, to take over the Norwegian Storebrand insurance company. The Finnish prime minister is entitled to his own opinion, but the Norwegian Government should turn a deaf ear to his advice. At the same time as Sampo’s lawyers are inundating the Norwegian Banking, Insurance and Securities Commission with reports and objections, Brussels is sending new signals to the effect that the EU would disapprove of the Norwegian Government basing its decision in the matter on Norwegian legislation alone. Now the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) wants to know whether the Government intends to comply with the EEA Agreement. If not, the Norwegian Government may be liable for damages to Sampo. The ESA is headed by Norwegians, and should therefore be more familiar with Norwegian conditions than other agencies in Brussels. And the Labour Government is certainly no stranger to the terms of the EEA Agreement. In fact, the Agreement is a product of Labour’s policies. Both the Government and the Storting take the view that the EEA Agreement does not preclude dealing with Sampo’s acquisition bid in accordance with Norwegian legislation. The ESA’s watchdogs should keep their distance. Otherwise it will be tempting to believe that it is Sampo’s specific interests they are looking after.