SV applauds Petersen’s caution (Dagsavisen)

Foreign Minister Jan Petersen received the accolades of Socialist Left party chairman Kristin Halvorsen after he delivered his Foreign Policy Statement to the Storting yesterday. It was Mr. Petersen’s clear warning against a US-led war against Iraq that prompted Ms. Halvorsen’s praise. The Progress Party was far from pleased, however. Morten Høglund criticized the Foreign Minister for focusing more on coalition-building than on taking definite action against the dictatorship in Iraq. His allegation is that Mr. Petersen is undermining the teamwork and good relations between Norway and the USA in the war on terrorism.

Government seeks to enhance voter power (Aftenposten)

The Government will submit a bill to amend the Elections Act before Easter. Minister of Local Government Erna Solberg stated yesterday that the Government wishes to widen the scope for choosing persons in elections. This will be done by giving the voters a stronger voice in selecting the individuals to represent them in elective bodies. In practice, Norwegian voters have only been allowed to vote for whole party lists in parliamentary elections.

Baby foods directive to be incorporated into Norwegian law (Nationen)

After resisting the EU for several years, the Norwegian Government has given in, and now accepts that the EU’s baby foods directive shall apply in Norway. Norway has sent at least two scientific reports to the EU documenting the fact that the amount of additives permitted by the baby foods directive is harmful to children. But the matter has been decided in the highest quarters of the Government.

Women do not want quotas (Dagens Næringsliv)

Norway’s women executives do not think much of the proposal to restrict the free right of private enterprise to choose who will represent them in corporate board rooms. "I believe there are many competent women to choose from, but many of them are not so good at attracting attention, so it is difficult to find them," says Bjørg Ven, a lawyer. Ms Ven is not convinced that compulsory quotas are the solution, though she sees the value of the measure if all else fails.

Women queued up to enter boardrooms (Aftenposten)

Superoffice CEO Une Amundsen finds the gender quota proposal preposterous. He has found only three women who fit the bill, but they are sought by others, too. These are the women Norwegian executives are looking for. Three databases accessible on the Internet list 1300 women with executive experience. One of these databases is maintained by the Gender Equality Centre.

War brewing in cabinet (Verdens Gang)

Minister of Education and Resarch Kristin Clemet (Cons.) is prepared to square off against Minister of Children and Family Affairs Laila Dåvøy, whose ministry is in charge of gender equality issues, over Ms. Dåvøy’s proposal to introduce compulsory gender quotas to apply to corporate boards. "I cannot pretend that I have changed my principles on this issue. But I am waiting to see what form Ms. Dåvøy’s proposal actually takes, and then I will make my position known in the Cabinet," says Ms. Clemet. The core issue is whether the Government should propose legislation which would require a minimum of 40 per cent of each gender in corporate board rooms, or whether the simple threat of imposing quotas should be enough.

Major legislative changes in store (Vårt Land)

The Church/State commission appointed by the National Council of the Church of Norway is set to issue a proposal that could lead to far-reaching adjustments in the Constitution. According to law professor Eivind Smith, this could be the biggest constitutional change since the union with Sweden was dissolved in 1905.

Worth noting

• Statutory gender quotas in Norwegian board rooms will probably violate the EU regulations which apply to Norway. Brussels could thus block Laila Dåvøy and Ansgar Gabrielsen’s vision of increasing the percentage of women directors. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• A number of prominent Norwegian businesswomen are positive to the idea of introducing gender quotas to apply to the boards of private enterprises. They feel the business community has taken a cautious line for far too long. (Dagbladet)
• Norwegian executives are not greedy, in the view of Director General Finn Bergesen, jr., of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO). Mr. Bergesen is fed up with the accusations of executive greed which have filled the air. He also advocates more widespread pay differentiation, and the NHO will take the first step in this direction in this year’s industrial settlement negotiations. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Car owners who don’t pay their annual excises tax now risk forced debt collection. The Directorate of Customs and Excise counts on an additional 80 to 100 million kroner in revenues from this source this year. (Dagsavisen)

Today's comment (Verdens Gang)

Norway’s foreign policy doesn’t make sense. We get involved in peace processes around the world – Sri Lanka, South America, the Middle East – yet we also send officers to the US Central Command near Tampa, Florida, and military personnel to Afghanistan, and we are currently negotiating with Kyrgyzstan for the possibility of stationing military cargo aircraft, fighter jets and several hundred servicemen there to take part in the war on terrorism. But in our own part of the world – Europe – a region of galloping change where the challenges turn up in rapid succession, our involvement is negligible. Indeed, we would like to get involved, but we are not part of the ever-expanding EU cooperation which has a tremendous impact on Norway and Norwegian society. It will be noted that Foreign Minister Jan Petersen, in his foreign policy statement to the Storting, observed that EU membership is not on Norway’s agenda at present. But it has also been noted elsewhere that there are limits to how far the EU can and will go to favour and accommodate one of the world’s richest countries, which, incidently, has chosen to go it alone. We believe the researchers in Brussels are right: we are already close to the limit. Simply saying that membership is not on the Norwegian agenda will get us nowhere.