NHO slams politicians (Dagsavisen)

Finn Bergesen, chief executive of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO), says the political parties should stop messing about and cooperate for the good of the country. The NHO is tired of inter-party squabbling when they really have much in common. Mr Bergesen is particularly irritated by the Centre Party, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals. "It is not the job of the NHO to determine which political choices are acceptable and which are not. But we have a right, and a duty, to explain the consequences those choices have for Norwegian business," said Mr Bergesen yesterday.

Norway tops EU list on overdose fatalities (Aftenposten)

With 327 overdose deaths, Norway tops the list in EU’s annual report on substance abuse. While a country like the Netherlands, with liberal drugs legislation and an extremely large number of drug users, only recorded 61 deaths in 1998, the corresponding figure for Norway was 270.

Substance abuse rising throughout the country (Nationen)

It is as easy to get hold of drugs in the countryside as it is in the big cities. Both drug availability and dependency are evenly spread throughout the country. A marked fall in the number of drugs seizures in Oslo tends to support this view, reports the National Bureau of Crime Investigation (Kripos). "The percentage of young people who use illegal substances is still higher in Oslo than in other places. But the gap between the capital and the countryside has shrunk significantly throughout the 1990s," says Astrid Skretting, a researcher at the National Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research.

New directive on police use of firearms (Dagbladet)

Justice Minister Hanne Harlem is under pressure to issue a new directive to the police on the use of firearms. A majority in the Storting is behind the move. "Hanne Harlem and the Government must change the regulations regarding police use of firearms," says former Justice Minister Odd Einar Dørum (Lib). "More police cars should have guns on board and there must be an end to police officers having to keep their guns locked in the boot. And last but not least, I assume that all of Oslo’s front-line police officers have been issued their own personal revolver a long time ago. They were supposed to have been issued their weapons as long ago as last spring," he adds.

New board members hard to find (Dagsavisen)

Kværner’s electoral committee is having a hard time finding board members that the company’s owners all agree on. The electoral committee has therefore recommended that the current board postpones calling an extraordinary general meeting. Senior union representative at Kværner, Rolf Utgård, is not surprised that the electoral committee has not come up with any suitable candidates. "It is not strange at all, when you consider that anyone joining the board is expected to jump whenever Kjell Inge Røkke says jump, while the rest of the board and the management team have their own strategies they are working on," he says.

Armed Forces lose women officers (Aftenposten)

Almost one in five female officers will take advantage of the Armed Forces’ generous severance package and leave the service. The recruitment of women has cost a lot of money, but the Armed Forces’ focus on increasing the number of female officers now seems to be falling apart. The target of seven per cent female officers by 2005 will probably have to be abandoned. Today, four per cent of officers on active duty are women.

Worth Noting

• Superintendent Finn Abrahamsen of the Oslo Police Force says that the restrictions on police use of firearms are hopeless. "It looks as though it is just a matter of time before innocent lives are lost," says Superintendent Abrahamsen. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Justice Minister Hanne Harlem will today meet a police force on high alert. (Dagbladet)
• NRK chief executive Einar Førde did not want acting chairman Anne Carine Tanum to be confirmed in the job on a permanent basis. Mr Førde wanted Cultural Affairs Minister Ellen Horn to sack Ms Tanum and the rest of the existing board of directors. Ms Horn’s faith in Ms Tanum was met with doubts both within the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and by Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Kværner’s 500 Norwegian employees are threatening both illegal strikes and go-slow actions in protest against a possible merger between Kværner and Kjell Inge Røkke’s Aker Maritime. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• When King Harald, then Crown Prince, married in 1968, the annuity the Storting allocated him from the Civil List (the annual payments made to the various members of the royal family) was so low that he had to borrow money to pay for the upkeep of his official residence, Skaugum. Today’s Crown Prince is moving with his new family into a fully-furnished apartment. How much he will receive from the Civil List is so far an unanswered political question. (Aftenposten)
• Sales of aids to stop smoking are rising fast. Last year Norwegians spent almost NOK 73 million on anti-smoking aids. This is NOK 19 million, or 25 per cent, more than in 1999. (Verdens Gang)

Today’s comment from Dagbladet

For years the royal family has received far more money from the state than has been specified in the national budget. As much as NOK 15 million per year has been granted in "camouflaged" additional payments. This is the equivalent of more than half the official Civil List. The money has gone on the day-to-day administration of the Palace, salaries to employees and maintenance costs for the royal family’s various properties. The subterfuge has been documented in a report that the historian Dag T. Hoelseth has compiled for the Palace Commission. The aim of these substantial additional payments was to conceal what the royal family actually costs, and avoid public debate and controversy. It can only have been possible with the mutual agreement of the Palace and the governments of the day. So it is surprising that former prime minister Oddvar Norli says he was unaware of these transfers of funds. We assume that the Palace Commission will make a clean breast of it all, and that the Storting will demand an end to the practice. Such a move will be to the benefit of all concerned – including the Palace.