Public service executives to get bigger parachutes (Aftenposten)

Trade and Industry Minister Grete Knudsen is planning to increase the size of the golden parachutes available to several senior public sector executives. The Trade and Industry Ministry has sent out a consultation paper in which it is proposed that sacked senior executives should be given severance pay equivalent to a maximum of two years’ salary. This is a better deal than many of these executives currently have. It was Ms Knudsen’s criticism of the salary awarded to Telenor boss Tormod Hermansen that spurred the Ministry to develop public service guidelines. However, the guidelines do not extend to partially privatized companies like Telenor.

EU turns up the pressure on Norway (Aftenposten)

The European Commission has developed a plan for "persuading" Norway to ease the country’s import ban, and has started to turn up the pressure behind the scenes. Aftenposten has reason to believe that the EU has bluntly told the Government what Norway can expect if the ban on meat imports from a number of EU countries is not lifted quickly. Aftenposten has learned that the most likely reaction in the short term is still for Norway to be barred from the EU’s permanent veterinary committee. The struggle is being played out behind closed doors, and both the EU and Norwegian authorities are trying to keep a low profile.

Sponheim forgives Petersen (Dagsavisen)

After having given the Conservatives the cold shoulder for a year, Liberal leader Lars Sponheim has forgiven their lack of support when the centre alliance government was forced to resign. Now Mr Sponheim is even willing to share office with Jan Petersen. The centre parties are squabbling among themselves and the Liberals are struggling in the polls, while support for the Conservative Party is surging ahead. And in this political climate Lars Sponheim has changed his mind, five months ahead of the general election.

Impossible to form coalition with the Conservatives (Nationen)

Centre Party deputy president Liv Singe Navarsete does not understand why the Christian Democrats and Liberals would want the Conservative Party to join a coalition government. Oslo city councillors Robert Wright (Christian Democrat) and Trine Skei Grande (Liberal) are leading a revolt against the current alliance between the parties of the centre. The two councillors were quoted in Wednesday’s edition of Dagsavisen as saying their parties should replace the Centre Party with the Conservative Party in a possible coalition government after the election. The Liberals and the Christian Democrats hold power in Oslo with the cooperation of those same Conservatives. "The Conservatives are not opposed to EU membership. A government containing the Conservative Party will work for EU membership from day one," says Ms Navarsete.

Call for Russia to join the WTO (Aftenposten)

Russia’s import ban on Norwegian fish has made it more urgent than ever for Russia to be included in the World Trade Organization (WTO), according to Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. The PM, speaking at the fisheries and fish farming annual conference in Tromsø, said that foot-and-mouth disease was among the issues under discussion when he met with the Governor of Murmansk. "How foot-and-mouth disease can be transmitted via fish is still somewhat unclear. What is not unclear is the import ban. The Russians are not members of the WTO or the EEA Agreement. This situation shows how important it is to have international rules of trade," said Mr Stoltenberg, who will ask the Russian authorities to resolve the situation.

Religion losing importance in society (Vårt Land)

Religion and the Church have come out badly in MMI’s wide ranging survey of Norwegian values. One in three people surveyed said that society should allocate fewer resources to the Church and religious matters. Almost 4,000 people were interviewed in a major survey of Norwegian moral attitudes carried out in 1999. Among other things interviewees were asked to name which areas in society they felt more resources should be spent on. At the top of the list came schools, the health service and care for the elderly. More than 80 per cent of those interviewed wanted more resources allocated to these areas. No one wanted a reduction.

No change in interest rates (Dagens Næringsliv)

No change in interest rates was announced after the Norwegian Central Bank’s board meeting yesterday. Despite changes in the guidelines for both budget and interest rate policies in recent weeks, the Central Bank’s message was word-for-word the same as it has been since September last year. A week ago the Norwegian Central Bank was given a new mandate. It will no longer ensure that the exchange rate remains stable, its new target is to hold inflation at around 2.5 per cent. The Central Bank’s forecasts show that today’s level of interest rates will bring inflation down to around two per cent in a couple of years.

Worth Noting

• Norway is arbitrating in the conflict between Tamils and Singhalese in Sri Lanka. At the same time Tamils in Norway are being allowed to collect millions of kroner in donations to the Tamil Tigers guerrilla organization, LTTE. In the UK this week the Tamil Tigers were included in a list of 21 banned terrorist organizations.
• Statoil is planning to resume its investments in Kazakhstan’s oil industry. But chief executive Olaf Fjell underlines that it will take some time before all the practical details are worked out. Statoil’s plans were announced during Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbajev’s two-day visit to Norway (NTB)
• Of the country’s ten largest companies in 2010, four or five will be fisheries related, forecasts Kolbjørn Giskeødegård of Kreditkassen’s fisheries department. (Aftenposten)
• Petroleum and Energy Minister Olav Akselsen and the Labour Party, together with the Centre Party and the Socialist Left Party, ensure a parliamentary majority in favour of giving a whopping NOK 16 billion to Norway’s largest power generator, Statkraft. The funding boost will be used to make acquisitions and position the company in the electricity generating market. (Klassekampen)
• Only men can become Chief Constable. The proposed reform of the police will cut the number of police districts from 54 to 28. But the proposal also states that only those who currently hold the position of Chief Constable on a permanent basis can apply for one of the 28 new top jobs. There is only one women among today’s 58 Chief Constables, but she is only acting Chief Constable and cannot therefore apply. This runs counter to Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s pledge that no men shall be appointed to executive positions in the public service before it has been documented that there are no equally qualified women candidates. (Dagsavisen)
• Storebrand’s market share is shrinking fast. Last year revenues from life insurance premiums fell by 12.5 per cent. Per Ivar Sandvik, Storebrand’s head of corporate communications, says the Korsvold scandal may have contributed to the decline. (Dagens Næringsliv)

Today’s comment from Dagbladet

Kaci Kullmann Five, chairwoman of the Norwegian Trade Council, has summarily exonerated the organization’s management following Dagens Næringsliv’s revelations of financial disorder and racism at the Trade Council’s South African office. "We could not have refused to act simply because the woman is black," commented Ms Kullmann Five of the sacked black secretary who helped to bring the scandal to light. Kaci Kullmann Five has now put herself in the embarrassing position of having found the Trade Council’s Norwegian emissaries not guilty before an independent investigation has even begun. At the same time the black secretary has been publicly accused of embezzlement and breach of trust, without being given the chance to defend herself. We recognize that Ms Kullmann Five has taken it upon herself to eradicate the dubious attitudes held by some ex-patriot Trade Council officers. But if she is to do that she cannot herself operate with two sets of procedural rules – one for Norwegians who call themselves "Master", and one for the people who freed themselves from apartheid after many years’ struggle.