EU can take revenge if they want to (Dagsavisen)

There is nothing to stop the European Commission taking revenge for Norway’s import ban on agricultural products if they should wish to do so. If the EU chooses to ban Norwegian fish, Norway has no power to fight back. We do not even have a complaints procedure. Fish and agricultural products are regulated by a separate agreement outside scope of the EEA Agreement. The EU can therefore claim that Norway is in breach of this agreement and exact revenge on Norwegian fish exporters, who would lose NOK 50 million per day. The Government does not expect the EU to punish Norway.

Tine halts all cheese imports (Aftenposten

Even though only a few cheese types are covered by the import ban, the farmers-owned dairy cooperative, Tine, has decided to halt all cheese imports. Marketing director Anders Røed admits that it is Norway’s dairy farmers who are pushing for a more restrictive line on imports. Tine accounts for around 20 per cent of the cheese imported from the EU.

Health Minister wants patients to pay for hospital beds (Klassekampen)

Health Minister Tore Tønne wants patients to pay a nominal charge when they are admitted to hospital. "The majority of people pay for everything they use," says Mr Tønne. He has proposed the imposition of what he calls a reasonable daily charge to remind patients that hospital services are expensive. "It is an important principle in Norway that hospital treatment should be free of charge. It is a principle we must defend," says the Labour Party’s parliamentary health spokesman, Asmund Kristoffersen.

Kleppe lost again (Aftenposten)

By 31 votes to 5 the Progress Party’s national committee voted by telephone to uphold the executive committee’s suspension of MP Vidar Kleppe. Mr Kleppe will therefore not be permitted to hold office for the Progress Party or be included on any party lists of parliamentary candidates for the next 12 months. The decision means that Mr Kleppe must be removed from the Vest-Agder list of Progress Party candidates at this autumn’s general elections. Mr Kleppe is expected to resign from the party and become a candidate on another list.

Support for Bondevik weaker (Verdens Gang)

For four years the Centre Party has been bound by an agreement to support the Christian Democrats’ key policy, the additional cash benefit for children under three. The Centre Party is now moving closer to the Labour Party and the Socialist Left Party, who both oppose the benefit, and have proposed a major cut in the scheme. Many Centre Party supporters see this move as a demonstration that the party’s enthusiasm for the centre alliance has cooled substantially.

Commission calls for end to strikes (Aftenposten)

The state mediator may be given the right to demand a ballot before trade unions go on strike. He may also be able to demand a joint ballot of several organizations to increase the chance of a yes-majority. These measures have been proposed by the government appointed Stabel Commission to prevent strikes. Several of the proposals would require a change in current legislation, and many people will interpret them as an attack on the right to strike. The commission will publish its recommendations Monday, 2 April.

Market for unit trust funds completely dried up (Aftenposten)

The dramatic fall in share prices is obviously giving Norwegian unit trust investors cold feet. With the exception of last September we have to go a long way back to find a month when we sold more unit trusts than we bought. But that is what happened in February, when we sold shares in unit trusts worth NOK 100 million more than we bought. The trend looks like continuing into March.

Worth Noting

• Retail traders on the Swedish side of the border are laying off staff. And while customs officers are checking empty cars, supermarkets on the Norwegian side of the border cannot satisfy the demand for meat. (Dagsavisen)
• The current intense focus on food safety in the aftermath of BSE and foot-and-mouth disease should have been good for the Centre Party. But party chairman Odd Roger Enoksen has not managed to present his party as any better able than the other parties to look after consumer interests – and perhaps not even farmers’ interests. (Aftenposten)
• The centre alliance is the Centre Party’s choice – before, during and after the general election, says the Centre Party’s top candidate for Buskerud county, Per Olaf Lundteigen, and slams the door on Jens Stoltenberg’s invitation to cooperate. (Dagbladet)
• Centre Party chairman Odd Roger Enoksen is calling for higher taxes for capitalists, while people who own and run their own businesses should pay less. He believes the dividend tax is here to stay. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Norwegian teenagers are the most tolerant in the world when it comes to supporting immigrant and women’s rights, according to a recent international democracy survey, which has been carried out in 28 countries. (Dagsavisen)

Today’s comment from Dagsavisen

The agricultural sector is in crisis, in Finnmark there is talk of a popular rebellion, and the Labour Party is sending ambiguous signals about possible EU membership during the Storting’s next term. The Government wants to modernize the whole of the public sector and centralize decision-making within the Norwegian health service. There are currently many issues which should have pushed the protest vote into the Centre Party’s lap. But just a few months before the general election, the Centre Party is having trouble making itself visible in the political landscape. We understand that the Centre Party does not want to leave its historic collaboration with the Christian Democrats and let Mr Bondevik have the pivotal position all to himself. However, the Centre Party’s annual conference should adopt an unambiguous resolution making it plain that any cooperation with the right is out of the question and that the best political solution is to be found in combination with the Labour Party. At a time when the Conservative Party is growing, the Centre Party has an important bridging role to play between the right and the left. Only by taking this function seriously can the party take advantage of the protest vote and once again become a central party in Norwegian politics.