Import ban probably lifted next week (Aftenposten)

There are strong indications that the Government will lift Norway’s import ban on meat and dairy products in just less than a week, if the current outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease does not spread any further. A political battle between the EU and Norway does not worry the Foreign Minister nor the other parties in the Storting. As long as the basis for the week-old import ban is legally justified, the Norwegian authorities do not take particularly seriously the demands put forward in Brussels yesterday. The EU believes that Norway is acting in breach of the veterinary agreement and does not accept Norway’s decision to go further than the restrictions the EU’s own veterinary experts have laid down for the EU and EEA.

Preparing for new EU membership battle (Dagbladet)

Opponents of EU membership within the Labour Party are furious following party chairman Thorbjørn Jagland’s call to start a new debate on EU membership as part of the coming election campaign. "It is reasonable that the most important issues on the political agenda are included in the election campaign. The EU is extremely important, and our entire relationship with Europe should be part of the campaign," said Mr Jagland in the Storting yesterday. It is not many weeks since Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg rejected the idea of engaging in a dispute over the EU during the election campaign.

Conservatives lay centre alliance government to rest (Dagens Næringsliv)

"The centre alliance as a government alternative has passed its sell-by date. A non-socialist alternative to Jens Stoltenberg’s government requires that the Conservative Party is included in the line-up. Something extraordinary would have to happen before the "old" centre alliance could be a viable proposition," says Conservative Party chairman Jan Pettersen. The results of opinion polls over several months show that a coalition between the Conservatives, Christian Democrats, Liberals and the Progress Party is the only alliance which can form a parliamentary majority. "The problem is the way the Progress Party is behaving. When the party cannot govern itself, it is hardly in a position to govern the country," says Mr Petersen.

We move house more often than ever (Dagsavisen)

Real estate agents are making a packet out of the fact that Norwegians are a race of house-movers. 14,000 more houses and flats changed hands last year than in 1999. Behind the statistics lies a major shift towards greater urbanization, which in turn is driving up prices. "We are experiencing the largest movement of people in the country since the war," says Peter Batta, chief executive of the Norwegian Houseowners’ Association.

Steady decline in number of electrical inspections (Aftenposten)

The number of fires caused by faulty electrical systems has doubled since 1990. At the same time the number of public inspectors has been cut from 1,450 to 643. "It is naïve of the Government to put the responsibility onto private individuals," says Thor Kristian Adolfsen of the Norwegian Fire Protection Association. An adequate number of household electrical systems were inspected in only two of Norway’s 19 counties last year.

Property sales worth NOK 128 billion (Dagsavisen)

Brand new statistics soon to be published by the Banking, Insurance and Securities Commission show that residential property sales last year outdid all previous records for the number of transactions and their financial value. Last year the country’s 479 approved real estate agents sold residential property worth almost NOK 130 billion, for which they earned a whopping NOK 2.7 billion.

Røkke may buy NRK’s broadcasting centre in Oslo (NTB)

Financier Kjell Inge Røkke is interested in buying NRK’s broadcasting centre at Marienlyst in Oslo. According to NRK, Mr Røkke is willing to pay several hundred million kroner for the building complex. "NRK is willing to look at Mr Røkke’s proposal," says NRK’s outgoing chief executive, Einar Førde. It is not known what plans Mr Røkke may have for the Marienlyst property.

Worth Noting

• As many as 2.6 million Norwegians over 16, or 78 per cent of those eligible, have sent in their forms and chosen a primary GP, according to the final figures published by the National Insurance Administration. (Verdens Gang)
• NOK 357 million in government cash which should have been spent on day nurseries for pre-school children were untouched at the end of last year because local authorities opened far fewer new day nurseries than the Government had anticipated. 75 per cent of the money was therefore spent on the additional cash benefit for children under three. (Aftenposten)
• For a long time the Progress Party was one of the three largest parties both in the polls and in the Storting. But now Carl I. Hagen and his cronies have been pushed into an ignominious fourth place, according to the March poll carried out by opinion pollsters ACNielsen. Six months ago the polls made the Progress Party Norway’s largest party. (Dagsavisen)
• The Centre Party wants to divide the State’s Direct Financial Interest in Norway’s oil and gas reserves more evenly between Norsk Hydro and Statoil. In that way it can give fellow party member Eivind Reiten a dowry worth several billion kroner when he takes over as Director General of Norsk Hydro later this spring. (Aftenposten)
• Norwegian banks are borrowing increasingly large amounts abroad to satisfy domestic demand for loans. International borrowing is necessary because Norwegians are not depositing sufficient amounts with the banks. (Dagsavisen)
• The broad agreement between employers and employees on wages policy is crumbling. The Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO) and the other employer organizations have accused the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) and the employees of running away from their responsibility to limit annual wage rises to moderate levels. The conflict may result in the decentralization of wage negotiations. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Bible colleges and art schools will be given the same status as other colleges of further education. A majority in the Storting has rejected the Government’s proposal to withdraw financial aid for these kinds of schools. (Vårt Land)

Today’s comment from Verdens Gang

Foreign Minister Thorbjørn Jagland has finally called a spade a spade. The Labour Party chairman now proposes to make the EU an important issue in the forthcoming general election campaign, and believes that Norway must think again about applying for membership – possibly as early as next year. We wholeheartedly agree with Mr Jagland, even if his EU statement to the Storting yesterday did not get as warm a reception among his fellow Labour MPs or among the opposition parties. Mr Jagland is right in saying that a small country like Norway risks being pushed farther and farther away from the political mainstream in Europe as the EU’s expansion process gathers speed. He is concerned that Norway will be reduced to simply being a recipient of decisions made by others. His concern is far from being unfounded.