Several thousand tax cases dropped (Aftenposten)

Nine hundred tax cases are now being dropped by the Oslo police. In the country as a whole, several thousand tax cases will be dropped after the Supreme Court recently established that a double penalty is in contravention of the European Convention on Human Rights. This new legal state of affairs has resulted in major problems for the police and the prosecuting authority. The police are faced with the comprehensive task of bringing out old cases and reassessing them. They must examine cases that have been adjucated, cases that have been submitted to the court for processing, and fines or confiscations that have already been imposed. So far it has been decided that the police will re-examine criminal cases dealing with taxes since 1 June 2001.

Demand for gender equality is creating problems (Dagavisen)

The debate on gender quotas in the Labour Party leadership is causing bad blood in the party. The dividing lines separate not only those who are for and against quotas, but also those who are for and against Trond Giske as deputy chairman of the party. This, in any case, is the view of the heads of women’s policy issues in Labour county branches in Sør-Trøndelag and Troms. If the Labour Party leadership comprises three men and one woman after the autumn national party congress this will be nothing new. The party congresses of 1989, 1990, 1992 and 1994 all elected three men and one woman to the top leadership positions.

Direct elections in 41 municipalities (Nationen)

The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development has agreed that 41 municipalities can conduct direct elections for the position of chairman of the municipal council in the coming term. Ninety-one municipalities had applied to participate in this scheme, which is designed to promote interest in local politics and strengthen local democracy. According to State Secretary Morten Andreas Meyer of the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, several larger municipalities and towns have now been included in the scheme in addition to the small country municipalities that were selected in 1999.

Experts: now is the time to invest (Dagbladet)

The advice of the independent experts is: start investing in unit trusts now. This is how you can avoid the usual trap of buying at peak prices and selling at rock-bottom prices. Now shares in unit trusts are available at cheap rates. "I believe we are very close to the bottom. This is the best possible time to begin investing sensibly in shares," said Tom Staavi, editor of the magazine Dine Penger ( Your Money). Christian Vennerød, former editor of the same magazine, is somewhat more guarded. "This may be the right time to buy, but it is always difficult to try to ‘time’ the bottom. There is no rush," he said.

Roads are killing people as never before (Dagsavisen)

The appalling trend towards more accidents on Norwegian roads is continuing. Up to now in July alone, 19 people have lost their lives. Last month 28 people died in accidents, and 1272 were injured. This was the highest number of injured in the month of June for the past 13 years. In response to these tragic figures, Acting Director-General for the Police Odd Berner Malme sent a letter yesterday from the Norwegian Police Directorate to the chiefs of police in the entire country, asking them to deploy the necessary personnel for the job of fighting this disastrous trend on the nation’s roads.

Hansen rejects 24-hour sale of beer (Verdens Gang)

"Increased access to alcohol results in higher consumption. And we don’t want to be a part of that." Eva Kristin Hansen, chairman of the Norwegian Labour Youth League, wants to keep the current opening hours for the sale of beer. "I am astonished at Karita Bekkemellom Orheim’s proposal, to say the least. This is a policy that we have never endorsed in the Labour Party or the Labour Youth League, and I am sure that many people will be opposed to this proposal," said an indignant Eve Kristin Hansen.

Beer proposal is a sheer popularity gambit on the part of Labour (Aftenposten)

Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik dissociates himself thoroughly from the Labour politicians’ proposal to open up for the sale of beer until late at night. "This is a sheer popularity gambit. After all, Sylvia Brustad has already said that she has a bad conscience for having initiated legislation that enables some shops to open on Sundays. This is a feeble effort on the part of the Labour Party to make up for that mistake. It would have been more appropriate for Labour to agree on extending general opening hours a long time ago. The party’s current enthusiasm is strange," said the Prime Minister.

Royal coffers will be open for public inspection (Verdens Gang)

For the first time we will be able to see how The Crown Prince, The Crown Princess, King Harald and Queen Sonja spend our tax money, and how much their parties cost. In February or March of next year, the Royal Palace will present an annual report showing how the royal family spent the taxpayers’ money this year. The members of the royal family and their properties, pleasure boat and staff will cost the Norwegian state over NOK 160 million this year. Around 61 per cent of this amount, NOK 98.6 million, is spent on running the royal household. Now we will be able to see how most of this money is spent.

Moose stocks may collapse (Aftenposten)

Norwegian moose, which are increasing dramatically in number, are threatened by disaster. There are six times as many moose now as there were 30 years ago. If this trend continues, moose stocks will eventually be faced with a food shortage, in the view of Knut Solbraa, retired professor at the Agricultural University of Norway and Norway’s foremost expert on moose and forest damage. In many areas the food situation is already precarious. Widespread and easily visible damage has been done to young forests. Aspen, rowan and willow have vanished from some areas. In order to save the moose stocks and overgrazed areas, the number of moose must be reduced substantially.

Record number of cruise ships in Bergen (Dagens Næringsliv)

Six of the largest cruise ships in the world docked at Bergen harbour almost simultaneously yesterday. On board these ships were around 4000 crew members and more than double that number of passengers, a total of nearly 13 000 people. Never before have so many cruise passengers visited the city in the course of one day. "This is a record summer, and we have now become the largest cruise ship harbour in northern Europe," said Ole Warberg, director of tourism in Bergen.

WORTH NOTING:

• Rape victims at asylum reception centres do not dare to report the perpetrators because they are afraid it might affect their asylum applications, according to Tove Smaadahl, director of a crisis centre. Now she is demanding personal alarms for the women who are exposed to sexual harassment. (Dagsavisen)
• The use of security cells in prisons increased by 27 per cent last year. Both prison directors and the chairman of the Norwegian Prison and Probation Officers’ Union believe that an increasing number of prisoners are mentally disturbed. (Aftenposten)
• Last year the Church of Norway collected a total of NOK 112.2 million from churchgoers. This is an increase of NOK 750 000 over the year before. (NTB)
• Telenor Mobil and NetCom risk losing a total of half a billion kroner in Internet revenues. Telenor Mobil has been ordered to reduce its prices. The same may happen to NetCom. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Inspections of several hundred companies carried out by the Customs and Excise Administration have revealed that during the first half of this year NOK 444 million in customs duties have not been paid. The Customs and Excise Administration’s auditors examined 511 companies. (Aftenposten)
• For the first time, the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development has allocated funds for research into the situation of homosexual immigrants to Norway. The aim is to discover what kind of attitudes homosexuals actually encounter in their own circles, and what are myths created by Norwegians. (Dagbladet)
• Physicians in private practice put their foot down when the Government increased pensions for hospital physicians. They wanted the same rights, and now they will be getting them. The Norwegian Medical Association is earmarking NOK 1 billion to equalize pension differences between public and private sector physicians. The money is being taken from the foundations, funds and properties worth a total of over NOK 5 billion that the Norwegian Medical Association has at its disposal. (Aftenposten)
• So far this year, wolves have killed four times as many sheep as in the same period last year. Yesterday a sheep farmer in Stor-Elvdal municipality killed a wolf for the first time this year. (Aftenposten)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Aftenposten:

The agreement between the EU, Statoil and Norsk Hydro on supplying gas to the EU market, and the EU Commission’s decision to stop threatening Norwegian power companies with up to NOK 50 billion in fines for selling gas through the former Gas Negotiation Commission, are a victory for all parties. The most important and most complex bone of contention between the EU and Norway has been solved, to the great relief of both the companies involved and the Norwegian authorities. However, relief and elation should not take control to the extent that we start to believe that Norway, which is still outside the EU, will be able to achieve satisfactory solutions for problems affecting its other vital interests relating to the EU. The reason that the EU has contributed to finding a solution for this problem is because it serves the Union’s own interests and those of its member countries. Today the EU must import half of its gas supplies. Norway alone supplies 10 per cent of the gas consumption of the EU countries. A long-term agreement with the two largest Norwegian gas companies will ensure stable deliveries to the EU countries, which has become more vital in light of the terrorist attacks of 11 September. The contribution made by Statoil and Norsk Hydro to the compromise with the EU is a promise to offer 15 billion cubic metres of gas to new customers on the free European market between now and 2005. Since this will be combined with long-term contracts that the companies are especially interested in, these concessions are absolutely acceptable.