Norwegian pilots to be deployed in war on terrorism (Aftenposten)

At least four Norwegian F-16s will take part in the fighting in Afghanistan this autumn. The pilots are prepared to hit targets on the ground where the Taliban and al-Quaida fighters are still in position. The aircraft have been upgraded with new electronics and new weaponry – in part paid for by the USA. The pilots will have rockets, missiles, cluster bombs and conventional bombs at their disposal. Sorties will take place round the clock.

Guaranteed nursery place (Dagsavisen)

All pre-school children will now be guaranteed a nursery place. If your local authority does not provide a place for your child, you can take it to court. And you are guaranteed to win. This gift to toddlers’ parents was pushed through yesterday by the opposition parties in the Storting. It will cost parents no more than NOK 1,500 per month for one of the legally guaranteed nursery places. "It is our firm ambition to get this on the statute books in 2005," said Øystein Djupedal (Socialist Left Party). In practice, the fact that parents have a legal right to a nursery place for their children, means that neither central nor local government authorities can blame a lack of cash for their failure to provide sufficient places. They are obliged to provide a place to all who want one.

Who believes the promises on pre-school day care? (Aftenposten)

Parents who are wondering whether the nursery places will become cheaper and more abundant got few answers when the Labour Party, the Progress Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party presented their plan yesterday. As yet no one is saying where the money is coming from to pay for it all. After studying the opposition parties’ pre-school day care proposal, Children and Family Affairs Minister Laila Dåvøy said she did not know if the scheme was feasible. The plan presented yesterday contains a number of specific targets whose total cost will be around NOK 5 billion in 2005, on top of which must be added grants to stimulate the creation of new nursery places.

Government accused of being weak (Nationen)

A parliamentary majority will vote on Friday to accept the EU’s gas directive. Professor Øystein Noreng, head of the Norwegian School of Management’s Petroleum Studies Unit, has attacked the Storting’s sudden change of heart. "I cannot understand why the current Government has decided to introduce the gas directive at this time. The Government is weak – and so was the last one. The EU needs Norwegian gas more than we need the EU. But despite that fact, the Government is throwing away valuable negotiating cards by introducing the gas directive. We should have exploited our negotiating position much better than we did," said professor Noreng.

Expert pans Bondevik’s Petroleum Fund proposal (Dagbladet)

Norway’s leading expert on international law, Asbjørn Eide, has panned the Bondevik government’s proposals for the Government Petroleum Fund, which are due to be debated in the Storting today. The Government has proposed that the Fund should avoid investments which could make Norway guilty of violating international law. "It is not good enough. Even if the Storting adopts the Government’s proposals, many of the Petroleum Fund’s investments will not be in the spirit of international law. The Fund could have done much more to uphold human rights, but the Government just wants to avoid being a criminal," said Mr Eide.

Climate shock from Labour (Dagbladet)

The Labour Party has changed its environment policy spots. The party is now in favour of developing carbon-free gas-fired power stations, the electrification of Norway’s offshore industry and the creation of a hydrogen fund. Labour also wants to intensify efforts to develop environment-friendly technology. The proposals are included in Labour’s comments on the Government’s climate report to be published this morning. The party’s about-face is historic. Two years ago Labour ousted the previous Bondevik government over Mr Bondevik’s insistance on carbon-free gas-fired power stations.

Fears of crisis in offshore construction industry (Dagsavisen)

Norway’s offshore construction yards face a crisis this autumn. The industry expects a temporary drop in orders which could lead to around 1,000 people being laid off. In response to this development the Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions’ members at all the major offshore construction yards will today stage a one-hour political strike. Offshore construction workers will also assemble in front of the Government’s offices and the Storting this morning. They are demanding a NOK 40 million package of measures to prevent valuable skilled workers leaving the industry before it recovers from the current downturn.

1 Worth Noting

1. "The deal of the century on pre-school day care agreed by the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party, the Centre Party and the Progress Party could end up as the bluff of the century when the economic realities experienced by local authorities catch up with the hyperbole coming out of the Storting," writes Dagsavisen’s leader writer, Arne Strand. (Dagsavisen)
2. The opposition wants to force through a price cap on pre-school day care fees at a new, lower level. Yesterday’s deal could cost up to NOK 10 billion extra over the next three years. The four parties admit that the calculations they have used as the basis for their proposal for more and cheaper nursery places are extremely uncertain. (Dagens Næringsliv)
3. Parents who do not have a nursery place could lose out in the major pre-school day care initiative agreed by the opposition parties, which together make up a parliamentary majority. Someone has to build and run the nurseries. And it is unlikely to be the country’s local authorities, which currently provide the vast majority of nursery places. (Vårt Land)
4. Government measures designed to prevent asylum seekers from destroying their passports have so far proved a complete failure. An increasing number of those arriving in Norway have no identification papers. (Aftenposten)
5. The police in Oslo have persuaded the Oslo City Council and the local education authority to stop hiring out school buildings during the World Bank’s meeting in Oslo, 24-26 June. The police believe the schools could be used as a base for violent demonstrators. (Dagsavisen)
6. One in two Norwegians is alive and well five years after being diagnosed with cancer. More than half of those who get cancer now survive. "We are approaching a 60 per cent survival rate. This is good news for those who have been diagnosed as having cancer," said Frøydis Langmark, head of the Cancer Registry of Norway. (Verdens Gang)
7. This year’s hefty wage rises will lead to more companies moving their operations out of Norway, according to Finn Bergesen Jr, chief executive of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO). He lays much of the blame for the high level of wage rises on Gerd-Liv Valla, president of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), but does not think the NHO has anything to reproach itself for. (Dagens Næringsliv)
8. During a two-hour period yesterday the Norwegian Meteorological Institute recorded 1,300 bolts of lightning in the southeast region of the country. However, no physical damage or personal injuries have been reported. (Aftenposten)
9. Electric weather is costing insurance companies a fortune. Over the past five years insurance companies have had to pay over NOK 900 million in compensation for damage caused by lightning. (Dagbladet)

2 Today’s comment from Verdens Gang

Go abroad and spend all your holiday money, is the advice from the optimists – because the Norwegian krone is extremely strong at the moment and we have never had so much holiday pay before. But if we listen to the experts, led by Norwegian Central Bank Governor Svein Gjedrem, mortgage-holders should put their money in the bank and prepare for hard times ahead. Interest rates will go up this autumn. The recent round of wage rises is being blamed for the dismal outlook for interest rates. Economists can permit themselves an ‘I told you so’. But the politicians must also take a large measure of responsibility for the fact that Mr Gjedrem feels obliged to trim the country’s sails. Both the Government and the opposition parties have been behaving as if the laws of economic gravity have been abolished – at a time when the economic cycle is screaming for a tighter fiscal policy. Instead of putting on the brake they have jumped on the gas – and oil. The result is that most of the improved welfare we wanted to give ourselves – in the form of better care for the elderly, education and healthcare – has gone on higher public sector salaries. Once again it is companies facing foreign competition which have lost out, and Mr Gjedrem is forecasting a tougher labour market with more people taking sick leave and applying for incapacity benefit. Unfortunately, he has been proved right so far.