Record tax bill (Dagsavisen)

Norwegian taxpayers have never before paid so much back to the state and local tax authorities as they will this year. By the end of the year the ordinary citizens of this country will have paid in a whopping NOK 400,000,000,000. And if the state’s tax revenues continue to rise as they have so far, every man woman and child in Norway will have paid NOK 88,888 in taxes to the Government by the end of the year.

Plans to create a specialist police unit on child abuse (Dagsavisen/Sunday)

Justice Minister Hanne Harlem wants to set up a special unit within the National Bureau of Crime Investigation, whose sole task will be to handle cases of suspected child abuse. "This is very good news. We wish to build up a national competence centre in this field which can assist the local police districts around the country," says Arne Huuse, who heads the Bureau.

EU not a problem for Conservatives and Christian Democrats (Nationen)

Conservative Party chairman Jan Petersen says the question of EU membership will not pose a problem for a potential Conservative/Christian Democrat coalition government. "I have no illusions that Mr Bondevik will say yes to EU membership. We are prepared to find a way to deal with the EU question. We must make up our minds about what we will do if the issue comes up again," says Mr Petersen, and underlines that the Conservatives will not raise the issue of EU membership before there is a majority in the country in favour of membership.

Call to limit media coverage (Aftenposten/Saturday)

The Director General of Public Prosecutions, Tor-Aksel Busch, is to consider whether the rules governing media coverage of criminal cases should be changed. He is concerned about the media’s role in the Orderud case and is particularly worried that the court may have been influenced by the comprehensive and detailed coverage in the media prior to the trial. He will now take the initiative to set up such an evaluation.

New trains useless in the rush-hour (Aftenposten/Sunday)

The 36 new commuter trains which the national railway company, NSB, has ordered are so heavy that the National Railway Administration has forbidden NSB to permit standing passengers. NSB had planned to allow six standing passengers per square metre. With seated passengers only, there is no way NSB can handle the numbers of passengers travelling at peak periods. NSB’s experts are now working flat out to slim down the trains. Among the measures being implemented is the replacement of steel components with aluminium. The PULS trains are due to replace NSB’s existing commuter trains, and the contract with the Italian manufacturer is worth some NOK 2 billion.

Oil fields not easy to sell (Aftenposten)

Buyers are not exactly queuing up to buy shares in the Norwegian oil fields soon to be put up for sale. The two major rounds of bidding for shares in exploration and production licences which Norsk Hydro and Statoil conducted last year provided ample evidence of that. The two companies put shares in a total of 35 licences up for sale, and found buyers for just 13. The State’s Direct Financial Interest (SDFI) is a major partner is several of these licences.

Statoil launch may be postponed again (Verdens Gang/Saturday)

Statoil’s stock market flotation may be postponed until next year, according to centrally placed sources. This makes the second postponement in Statoil’s plans for a stock market launch. The latest delay is mainly due to the large number of tax issues which the Finance Ministry have not yet resolved and which have an impact on a valuation of Statoil’s assets. This makes it impossible for Statoil to complete the flotation process during the autumn as planned.

Christian Democrat leadership rallied round the Church (Dagsavisen/Sunday)

When the Christian Democratic Party’s leadership realised that the feeling at its annual conference was about to swing in favour of the disestablishment of the Church and State, they rallied to the aid of the Church and secured a small majority in favour of maintaining the status quo – at least in the short term. Party chairman Valgerd Svarstad Haugland admits that it was important for the Christian Democrat leadership to prevent a resolution calling for the disestablishment of the Church. "If we had voted in favour of disestablishing the Church today, it would have been an unconsidered action prompted by politicians who wish to interfere in the internal affairs of the Church," she says.

Worth Noting

1. Jens Stoltenberg’s support for India’s place on the UN Security Council is a breach with Norwegian policy, which he must explain to the Storting when he returns home, says Einar Stensnæs (Christian Democrat), chairman of the Storting’s Foreign Affairs Committee. Mr Stoltenberg is currently on an official visit to India. (Dagbladet)
2. The government of Kyrgyzstan has asked Norway for help in its war against Muslim guerrillas. "We have very clear guidelines for the sale of equipment for military purposes, one of the most important of which is that we do not sell materiel to countries where there is internal armed conflict. But at the same time, this will also be a purely political decision," says Foreign Ministry spokesman Karsten Klepsvik. (Aftenposten/Sunday)
3. The triple murder at Orderud farm has caused a lot of suffering for those involved, but it has also cost the country dear. The defence counsels of the four accused will, however, earn substantial sums. So far they have received around NOK 3.5 million in fees from the state. (Dagsavisen)
4. For the first time since the fisheries protection zone around Svalbard was created in 1977, a Russian fishing vessel has been arrested and escorted to a Norwegian port. The incident happened on Thursday evening. (NTB)
5. Norway and Russia are on a collision course over the management of Svalbard. The Russians view Norway’s wide-ranging environment protection plans as a camouflaged way of squeezing them off the archipelago, and are considering defying the Norwegian regulations. (Aftenposten/Saturday)
6. Norwegians are fed up with sky-high interest rates. An increasing number are taking out foreign currency loans at a low rate of interest – even though the risks are considerable. (Dagbladet/Saturday)

Today’s comment from Dagens Næringsliv

Following their annual conference in North Trøndelag this weekend, the Christian Democrats look like a party which is readier to take office than they were ahead of the general election four years ago. The years in government have also made them keener to return. It is more fun to run the country than complain about the people who are. The annual conference also clarified which coalition alternatives are on the table ahead of the election. In the end the pressure to explain what kind of government the Christian Democrats will support if the centre alliance fails had become to strong. The Christian Democrat leadership said as much at the annual conference as it is possible to say without making their change of line seem too obvious. But their clarity was noticeable compared to the resounding silence from the leadership before the annual conference started. The Christian Democrats would prefer a centre alliance government. The Christian Democrats reject any government cooperation with the Socialist Left Party or the Progress Party. A coalition with the Labour Party is not impossible, but too improbable. However, the party is "open" for other coalition partners. Since the Conservative Party is the only one left to be open with, the alternatives are clear. The centre alliance is plan A, a centre-right government with the Conservatives (but not the Progress Party) is plan B, while the unlikely alternative of a coalition with the Labour Party is plan C. The two most probable outcomes of this autumn’s election are therefore either more of the Labour Party and Jens Stoltenberg, or a pale blue centrist coalition under Kjell Magne Bondevik. Perhaps the election campaign will be less messy than we had feared.