The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oslo
Press Division

Norway Daily No. 44/01

Date: 5 March 2001

More secrecy (Aftenposten)

Norway’s involvement in international affairs is on the rise. And so is the level of official secrecy, which has increased in five ministries since the present government came into office. The government of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has refused public access to 5,466 documents. Foreign Minister Thorbjørn Jagland and Local Government Minister Sylvia Brustad are the most secretive members of the cabinet.

Praise for Progress Party (Dagsavisen)

Somebody has finally found something positive to say about the Progress Party – and surprisingly, the praise has come from the Gender Equality Ombudsman, Kristin Mile. "It is a positive step that the Progress Party has adopted guidelines for handling cases of sexual abuse within the party. In my opinion such guidelines are a necessary and useful tool for any organization," says Ms Mile. The Progress Party passed a resolution adopting the guidelines last weekend.

Call for transfer of Statoil to Ministry of Trade and Industry (Aftenposten)

"One of the reasons given for the partial privatization of Statoil is to clear away possible conflicts of interest. The Petroleum and Energy Ministry (OED) is responsible for awarding operating licenses, supervising the North Sea oil fields and drawing up the rules regulating the industry. The OED will also control the state-owned companies managing the oil and gas pipelines and the State Direct Financial Interest (SDFI) in Norway’s oil and gas fields. The situation would therefore be more clear cut if responsibility for Statoil were transferred to the Ministry of Trade and Industry," says Jan Tore Sanner (Conservative). Several of the other parties represented in the Storting support Mr Sanner’s call to transfer responsibility for Statoil to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

New conflict within Labour Party could wreck oil privatization deal (Aftenposten/Sunday)

Powerful forces at work within the Labour Party are opposed to Government proposals to sell off more than 20 per cent of the State Direct Financial Interest (SDFI) in Norway’s oil and gas reserves. If the Labour Party does not agree to the sale of a larger proportion of the SDFI, it could mean the end of the current broad-based political agreement on oil policy. "The sale of 25 per cent of the SDFI would not be in keeping with the resolution adopted at the Labour Party’s annual conference," says Labour MP Britt Hildeng.

Cannot seal off Norway (Dagbladet)

Despite government plans for some of the most dramatic and wide-ranging emergency measures ever implemented in peacetime, the authorities are dependent on the public themselves taking every precaution to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. It could take months before the epidemic is under control in the UK. The Government will decide today whether to halt all imports of meat and dairy products.

From resignation to speculation (Dagens Næringsliv)

Einar Christian Nagell-Erichsen resigned from Finansbanken’s board of directors in the autumn of 1998 in order to speculate in the bank’s shares. The motive for purchasing 200,000 shares through a secret Swiss bank account is thought to have been a desire to prevent the market from learning of his interest in the share. Mr Nagell-Erichsen himself says that he first learned of Storebrand’s bid for the bank the day before the acquisition took place in January 1999. Mr Nagell-Erichsen’s purchase of shares in Finansbanken through a Swiss Bank account is currently under investigation by the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime.

All or nothing (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)

Kjell Inge Røkke and Aker Maritime are demanding that Kværner accepts its merger plan in its entirety. A merger of the two companies’ shipbuilding activities alone would not be acceptable. "They cannot just take the bits they like. It’s a package deal. It is the best solution for further developing the individual parts of the Kværner corporation," says Geir Arne Drangeid, VP Corporate Communications at Aker Maritime. However, Kværner’s chairman, Christian Bjelland, believes that Mr Røkke’s plan is simply a ploy to take over the whole of Kværner.

Worth Noting

1. The Government will today appoint an emergency committee whose task will be to keep foot-and-mouth disease out of the country. One confirmed case on the Continent may be enough to close the border to all imports of meat and dairy products. (Dagsavisen)
2. From today all visitors from the Great Britain, Northern Ireland and Belgium will have to disinfect their shoes before they can set foot on Norwegian soil. (Verdens Gang/Sunday)
3. "If we are to improve the Church’s financial position we must create a comprehensive system of funding," says Christian Democrat church affairs spokesman Arne Lyngstad. He has therefore called for the state to take over the entire financial responsibility for the Church of Norway. (Vårt Land)
4. When it comes to the biggest ever reform of the hospital system, Health Minister Tore Tønne has forgotten several major user groups. The needs of psychiatric patients have been kept out of the hurried round of consultation which is now being concluded. (Dagsavisen/Sunday)
5. From 1 March pharmacies have been obliged to find the cheapest cure for the public’s ailments. The authorities have created a list of 200 pharmaceutical products which can be sold "at a discount". (Dagbladet/Saturday)
6. 320,000 Norwegians did not go to the dentist last year because they could not afford to. Young people in particular do not go to the dentist because they are short of cash. (Dagbladet)
7. Norway’s impeachment rules are out-of-date and should be abolished, according to the leader of a committee which is evaluating ways the Storting may exercise control over the Government. (Aftenposten/Saturday)
8. In the 1960s and 1970s foxes were responsible for killing around 75 per cent of the sheep taken by predators in this country. Today foxes kill no sheep at all, if we are to believe the statistics for sheep loss. Despite the fact that at that time there were practically no large predators in Norway, the total number of animals lost to predators was almost as large as it is today. (Dagbladet/Sunday)

Today’s comment from Aftenposten

In the wake of the Smith Inquiry’s recommendation to consider impeaching former Transport Minister Lars Gunnar Lie, there has been a debate about whether the time is right to abolish impeachment as a judicial instrument. We welcome such a debate. There has not been an impeachment trial since 1926. The fact that a constitutional instrument has not been used for 75 years is in itself a more than good enough reason to abolish it. The point of impeachment is to indict and try members of the Storting, the Government and the Supreme Court for criminal acts committed while in office. All of the eight impeachment cases we have had since 1814 have been brought against members of the government. Following the introduction of parliamentary democracy in 1884, there has been just one impeachment case – against Prime Minister Abraham Berge and six of his cabinet ministers in 1926. They were acquitted. In theory impeachment may still be an appropriate measure with regard to a minister who the Storting finds guilty of dereliction of duty several years after the person has left office. In practice it is highly unlikely that such a step would be instigated. No decision on the future of impeachment should be made until the committee appointed by the Storting to look into new ways for parliament to bring errant cabinet ministers to justice, has finished its deliberations. However, there are strong arguments to support the view that impeachment is no longer a natural part of our constitutional system.