Norway’s hidden oil elite meet (Aftenposten)

The Storting’s Energy and Environment Committee has invited 15 men to a three-day hearing on the privatization of Statoil and the sale of the State Direct Financial Interest (SDFI) in Norway’s oilfields. None of the committee’s hearings on this important issue will be open to the public, despite its previous criticism of the Government for its lack of openness on the subject. The parties are expected to reach a set of compromise agreements before Easter.

Lawsuit fears following new Patient Rights Act (Dagsavisen)

Health Minister Tore Tønne believes that the abolition of the waiting list guarantee from 1 January will lead to patients suing hospitals over delays, since the new Patient Rights Act allows individuals to sue hospitals if they do not get the treatment they have a right to. "Where the courts will draw the line will depend on developments in legal practice. We can expect to see the application of the law being tested in court," says Mr Tønne. Until 1 January around 20 per cent of patients were guaranteed not to have to wait longer than three months for hospital treatment.

Children sacrificed by the courts (Aftenposten)

In child custody cases the courts often take more account of parents’ feelings than what is best for the child. In a recently published report, psychologist Katrin Koch shows that judges often agree to compromise solutions to prevent parents feeling like winners or losers. Ms Koch believes that many such legal compromises can actually be harmful to the children concerned.

Palace millions secured through secret channels (Dagsavisen)

A recent report on the royal family reveals that the Palace has camouflaged years of financial crises by means of "secret" transfers from the national budget. To avoid unpleasant questions being asked about increases in the Civil List (the annual payments made to the various members of the royal family), some of the royal expenses were secretly covered from other parts of the budget. The main objective was always to solve the Palace’s financial crises without it becoming public, concludes the report. "The Storting, the ministries and the royal family would be best served by a very rapid investigation into the accusations of inappropriate dealings between the Finance Ministry and the Palace," says Kristin Halvorsen, leader of the Socialist Left Party.

Huge rise in overdose deaths (Aftenposten)

Last year 327 people died of drugs overdoses in Norway, almost as many as those killed on the roads. 29 of those who died from narcotics were between the ages of 15 and 20. Social Affairs Minister Guri Ingebrigtsen is alarmed by the number of deaths from substance abuse and plans to review the entire drug treatment system to uncover where it is failing. "We spend large sums on treatment, but are we spending the money in the right way? That is what we will try and find out as we develop an action plan to combat substance abuse," says Ms Ingebrigtsen.

Enough weapons to start a war (Dagbladet)

Oslo’s criminal gangs are stockpiling weapons. They have more than enough weapons to start a war. Dagbladet has received confirmation that around 30 Uzi machine pistols have been ordered and are now on their way to Norway. The guns have been ordered by criminal elements in Oslo and will be delivered to an illegal arms dealer. The citizens of Oslo may face a bloody winter and spring ahead.

Worth Noting

• "It’s about who controls the streets – the police or the gangs. It is about such vital issues as the safety of ordinary citizens going about their business in the city and the safety of police officers carrying out their duty," says Arne Johannessen, chairman of the Police Officers’ Association. (Dagbladet)
• The bitter power struggle in the Progress Party has escalated further following chairman Carl I. Hagen’s accusations yesterday that certain named Progress Party MPs are out to take control of the party. (Aftenposten)
• Relations between the Socialist Left Party and the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) may be thawing. For the first time ever the LO has invited a party other than the Labour Party to its Annual Congress in May. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Party newspapers are struggling. Dagsavisen (Labour) and Nationen (Centre Party) both made a NOK 5-6 million loss last year, while Klassekampen (Communist) narrowly avoided going into the red. (Vårt Land – Christian Democrat)
• The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) is calling for a change in the allocation of government subsidies for business development, which it claims are granted arbitrarily. Since 1995 subsidies for small and medium sized businesses have been cut, even though this is a priority area on the political agenda. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Norwegians – mostly young people – spent NOK 200 million on logos, ring melodies and jokes for their mobile phones last year. And this is only the beginning, because a whole host of additional services are just around the corner. (Dagsavisen)
• Concerns about mad cow disease are hitting Norwegian retailers. Butchers and fishmongers report that sales of fish and game products were 20 per cent above normal last weekend. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Increasingly, when Norwegian women buy lingerie they choose expensive and exclusive brands. Norwegian women are expected to spend NOK 1 billion on lingerie this year. (Dagbladet)

Today’s comment from Dagbladet

Health Minister Tore Tønne has already managed to create a political legacy. With the help of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and party chairman Thorbjørn Jagland, Mr Tønne has won the backing of a united Labour Party for the idea that a government takeover of the hospitals (which are currently administered by the county authorities) is the only sensible and correct course of action. The plan he unveiled last week looks very promising on paper. If Mr Tønne succeeds in implementing what he has planned, his name will be writ large in the annals of Norwegian hospital history. From 1 January a new Patient Rights Act and three other health-related acts have come into force. The Patient Rights Act also includes the right to freely choose the hospital an individual wishes to be treated at. This opens up a new opportunity to cut hospital waiting lists. However, the newly started scheme to send patients for surgery in Kiel, Germany, is one of the new measures we most certainly could have done without. The patients being sent abroad may applaud the move, but we believe the NOK 1 billion that the Storting allocated to this scheme could have been better spent on Norwegian hospitals.