Government divided over US military courts (Klassekampen/Saturday)

The Bondevik government is divided in its reaction to the USA’s new military tribunals. Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik has expressed his concern over the issue to the US Minister of Justice, while Foreign Minister Jan Petersen has declined to criticize the USA. The Association of Norwegian Judges recently sent a letter to the Ministry of Justice attacking the US military tribunals, and calling on the Government to raise the matter with the USA. However, the Foreign Ministry, under Jan Petersen’s leadership, has refused to pass on the judges’ criticism, saying that it would be ‘premature’ to engage in a debate on the basis of currently available information. This demonstrates that the Foreign Minister is out of step with the Prime Minister on this issue.

Sponheim slams military tribunals (Klassekampen)

Liberal leader Lars Sponheim has followed up the Christian Democratic Party’s criticism of the USA’s military tribunals, claiming that they violate the basic principles of due process. The extradition of suspects to these courts is out of the question, according to the Liberal Party. Jan Petersen, Conservative Party chairman and Foreign Minister, has refused to take a position on the USA’s military courts.

Petersen: I am not a coward (Dagbladet/Saturday)

Foreign Minister Jan Petersen is on the war path. The object of his fury are those who have attempted to brand him a cowardly supporter of EU membership. "Reiulf Steen, the European Movement in Norway, and the newspapers Verdens Gang and Aftenposten do not understand what I am saying," said Mr Petersen. "It is all nonsense. None of them has got the point. They are mixing up the need for a debate on the EU, which is going on all the time, and the debate on whether Norway should apply for membership. I still maintain that the 2005 general election is an arbitrarily chosen point in time in relation to the latter. A battle over EU membership may start either before or after 2005, and will be decided by a referendum in any event. For this reason the 2005 general election is important for only two reasons. The parties should get the voters’ backing for their position on EU membership and the candidates must state clearly their attitude to a referendum," said Mr Petersen.

Lahnstein attacks Red Cross deal (Aftenposten)

Anne Enger Lahnstein, General Secretary of the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue claims that her organization was squeezed out when the Red Cross signed an exclusive deal with Steen & Strøm, a major Norwegian chain of retail shopping centres. Ms Lahnstein, a former Minister of Culture, has branded this kind of competition between charitable organizations as ‘shameful’. She claims the agreement was made possible due to a loophole in the law. She will now contact the current Minister of Culture, Valgerd Svarstad Haugland, to try and get the rules changed.

Employers’ organization rules out wage rise bonanza (Dagens Næringsliv)

Finn Bergesen Jr, head of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO), has refused to be party to a wage settlement which exceeds three per cent. The NHO has estimated that the carry-over from last year amounts to 2 per cent, and claims therefore that there is no room for more than a 1 to 1.5 per cent wage rise this year. The NHO also rejects major wage hikes for police officers and nurses.

Thousands have paid too much tax (Aftenposten/Saturday)

Over the past few years thousands of people who have repaid fixed-interest loans have paid too much in tax. This is because both the banks and the tax authorities have believed the gains made by fixing interest rate levels should be taxed. On the contrary, they should not. And now bank customers will get their money back. For example, customers of the Norwegian State Housing Bank, most of whom have fixed-interest agreements, paid NOK 21 million too much in tax in 2000.

Government tenders opened for more companies (Aftenposten/Saturday)

Smaller companies will be given bigger opportunities to compete for government contracts. Labour and Government Administration Minister Victor Norman plans to give companies located in the Norwegian regions a bigger slice of the government procurement market. Central government purchases of goods and services are managed by the Government Administration Services and its procurement office. In 2000 contracts were signed worth a total of NOK 4.3 billion, of which half were related to IT services (computer products, telecoms and value added services).

Union boss calls for boycott (Verdens Gang/Saturday)

Leaders of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) have declared war on bank transaction charges. Kleiv Fiskvik, leader of the LO’s Oslo branch has suggested a list be compiled of the worst offenders in an attempt to force the banks to reduce their charges. "The largest banks are also the most expensive. We could also demand that employers, the Government, local authorities and NHO member businesses boycott banks which have the highest charges and the highest interest rates on loans. This could be one of the demands we make during the next round of wage negotiations," said Mr Fiskvik.

Banks ignore union anger (Dagsavisen/Saturday)

The finance industry is clear. It is the banks which decide the level of transaction charges not the trade union movement, and they do not appreciate any interference on the part of the unions or employers in the way they set their charges. According to the Norwegian Financial Services Association, bank charges today are more reasonable than before. The Norwegian Central Bank now plans to investigate what level of costs the banks have for services for which they demand a transaction charge.

Norsk Hydro a step away from biggest ever acquisition (Aftenposten)

This weekend Norsk Hydro’s top management was busy negotiating the final details of the biggest foreign acquisition ever made by a Norwegian company. The final agreement could be ready as early as today. Before Christmas Norsk Hydro issued a stock market bulletin announcing that the company was negotiating the acquisition of VAW, a major aluminium producer, with Germany’s E:ON. The deal will probably cost in excess of NOK 20 billion, which would make it the largest ever foreign acquisition by a Norwegian company.

Worth Noting

• Pilots and crew at Ørland Air Base in Trøndelag County are undergoing intensive battle training to prepare them for participation in the war in Afghanistan. The head of the Royal Norwegian Air Force let the news slip without clearing his announcement with the Chief of Defence Staff beforehand. (Nationen/Saturday)

• The Socialist Left Party welcomes a new debate on Europe. The party leadership also wants more EU supporters and those who are unsure of their standpoint to join the party and become elected officials. (Dagbladet/Saturday)
• Valgerd Svarstad Haugland, chairman of the Christian Democratic Party, believes the party will have to discuss EU membership once again ahead of the 2005 general election. Her position is supported by several key Christian Democrats. (Dagsavisen)
• Euro-sceptic Trond Giske (Labour) wants the debate on Europe to be continuous. But it must not be derailed into a permanent squabble over membership or not. A future yes to EU membership must come because a majority of the people want it, says Mr Giske. (Dagbladet/Sunday)
• The Norwegian Armed Forces could be forced to slash up to 1,000 more jobs than the 5,000 already announced, according to senior military leaders. In the past 15 months 2,000 people have left the Forces. (Aftenposten/Saturday)
• The Oslo Stock Exchange’s costly efforts to penalize concealed insider trading have led to fewer charges being brought. The Banking, Insurance and Securities Commission have responded to the flood of cases being referred to it by raising the threshold for bringing charges. (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)
• On Tuesday the curtain rises on the final act in the dispute between Kjell Inge Røkke and Tore Lindholt, chief executive of the National Insurance Fund. The Oslo District Court will decide if Mr Røkke paid too little when the National Insurance Fund and 1,600 minority shareholders had their shares in Aker RGI compulsorily redeemed in February 2000. (Aftenposten/Sunday)
• Hospital administrators and nurses have just 16 days to find a prescription that will avoid a strike. The 8,000 nurses are demanding a wage rise of NOK 40,000. The employers say that any wage rise at this time is out of the question. (Dagsavisen/Saturday)
• The Norwegian Competition Authority is to investigate whether the power generators and supply companies are pocketing too much money. Both the Authority and the Central Bureau of Statistics believe the electricity companies’ profits have increased. (Verdens Gang)
• 680 patients in Oslo have received incorrect or delayed treatment since the introduction of the primary GP scheme last summer, according to a report by NRK. Health Minister Dagfinn Høybråten will now call all those involved to a meeting. The treatment delays are due to difficulties in getting hold of the patient’s own GP in the event of a medical emergency. (NTB)
• Norwegian house prices are sky high – and they are heading even higher. House prices rose by eight per cent last year, despite international terrorism and high interest rates, according to real estate agents, Postbanken Eiendomsmegling. (Verdens Gang/Saturday)

Today’s comment from Aftenposten

Conservative Party chairman and Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen says he feels misunderstood following criticism of his refusal to contribute to the debate on Norway’s relations with the EU which his cabinet colleague, Petroleum and Energy Minister Einar Steensnæs, believes should take place ahead of the 2005 general election. However, if he does indeed feel misunderstood, Mr Petersen should not rule out the possibility that the misunderstanding could be due to his own lack of clarity on the subject. The point is not, as Mr Petersen seems to believe, that we and other critics want to provoke him into setting a date for a new EU membership application before it is possible for supporters of membership to win a referendum on the issue. Developments in the EU are happening too fast and are too important for Norway for any supporters of EU membership to want to suffer a third defeat. The reason that we, for the second time in just a few days, are asking the person who occupies the important double role of the country’s Foreign Minister and leader of our most united pro-EU party to show some leadership is because we do not think that a political sea-change among the Norwegian people will happen by itself. Our leading politicians must raise the flag in the debate on Europe. The Foreign Minister must not end up in a situation in which he can justifiably be accused of being less concerned with contributing to an informed and many-faceted debate on Norway’s relations with the EU than several leading opponents of EU membership seem to be.