Norway Daily No. 16/03
Historisk arkiv
Publisert under: Regjeringen Bondevik II
Utgiver: Utenriksdepartementet
Nyhet | Dato: 23.01.2003 | Sist oppdatert: 21.10.2006
The Royal Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Oslo
Press Division – Editor: Mette Øwre
Norway Daily No. 16/03
Date: 23 January 2003
Valla: Unique wage agreement (Dagens Næringsliv)
The agreement with the Government on wage rises is unique,
according to Gerd-Liv Valla, president of the Norwegian
Confederation of Trade Unions (LO). In return for her support she
is expecting additional measures to help the unemployed and an
increase in the tax deduction allowable for union dues. “I do not
like the word moderation,” she said. Yesterday Ms Valla signed to
say that she wanted to keep wage rises down this year. But getting
her to talk about moderation, or the fact that local authority and
hospital staff could end up with no wage rises at all, was
difficult. She would much rather talk about the agreement, which
she described as unique. “It has never happened before that prior
to the start of wage negotiations a government has come up with
promises for specific measures,” she said.
Unions frightened into wage moderation (Dagsavisen)
Rising unemployment and the fear that manufacturing industry
will relocate abroad has made the demand for wage moderation less
unpalatable for the union movement. With a smile on their lips they
agreed to back the Government’s plan for bringing down interest
rates. Employers and unions reached agreement surprisingly quickly
when they met to discuss this year’s wage settlement with Prime
Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik yesterday. But regardless of the
reason, it looks as though Mr Bondevik has succeeded in his
strategy to keep this year’s round of wage negotiations on
track.
Richer despite minimal wage rises (Aftenposten)
Yesterday’s 0.5 percentage point cut in interest rates – and
additional cuts up ahead – will pay the electricity bill and more.
Most people will have more money to spend, despite the fact that
this year’s round of wage negotiations will probably not result in
any salary increase. Pensioners will not fare so well. They will
have to find the cash to pay their electricity bills, while the
money they have on deposit with the banks will yield lower interest
returns.
Union boss warns of trouble if executive pay rises too much (Dagbladet)
Gerd-Liv Valla, president of the Norwegian Confederation of
Trade Unions (LO), will not put up with private company executives
awarding themselves bigger pay rises than other employees.
“Executives should stick within the same framework as the rest of
business sector. Our members have said no to unilateral moderation.
If executives do not follow up their side of the bargain, we have
mechanisms to put a stop to it,” said Ms Valla.
Giske not calling for creation of anti-EU lobby within Labour Party (Aftenposten)
Trond Giske feels it is very unlikely that a new application
to join the EU will be sent prior to the 2005 general election,
because it would put the election completely in the shade. Labour
leader Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that it might be possible
to send an application for EU membership before the 2005 election.
At the last EU referendum in 1994, Trond Giske was one of Labour’s
most highly profiled opponents of EU membership. “I think it is
highly unlikely that anyone in the Labour Party or any of the other
parties believes it would be opportune to start a battle over EU
membership in a year in which the battle to determine the
composition of the Storting is the overriding issue. I think a lot
of people would agree with me, regardless of whether they support
EU membership or not,” he said.
Call for generosity towards EU (Verdens Gang)
The leaders of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions
(LO) and the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO)
have warned the Government not to be penny-pinching in their
negotiations with the EU on a new EEA Agreement. “My personal
opinion is that we should be generous, particularly because this
money will go towards levelling the economic playing field for the
poor countries of eastern Europe,” said LO president Gerd-Liv
Valla. The EU has demanded a dramatic increase in the size of
Norway’s EEA contribution, from NOK 200 million to NOK 3.5 billion.
Norway’s “offer” is thought to be just less than NOK 300
million.
Housing market could see price hike (Dagsavisen)
Yesterday’s cut in interest rates could lead to renewed
growth in house prices, according to some experts. The Norwegian
Houseowners’ Association is expecting more people to turn up to
view property advertised for sale this weekend. The Norwegian
Central Bank has indicated the possibility of further cuts in
interest rates. Financial analysts disagree about the timing of the
next cut – and how far down interest rates will go.
200,000 firearms could be confiscated (Nationen)
Only around half of all registered hunters have been hunting
in recent years, which means that 200,000 hunting weapons are lying
about unused in Norwegian homes. If the regulations are tightened
up, these weapons could be confiscated, and the risk of whole
families being gunned down would be significantly reduced. The
Norwegian Association of Hunters and Anglers is backing a
crackdown, but says that people should be allowed to keep their
firearms for up to ten years, even if they have not been
hunting.
New Nato leader? (Dagsavisen)
Neither Socialist Left Party leader Kristin Halvorsen nor
Centre Party leader Odd Roger Enoksen thinks that Defence Minister
Kristin Krohn Devold’s catalogue of errors weakens her chances of
becoming Nato’s new General Secretary. According to the Reuters
news agency, Ms Devold is one of several names being speculated
about to take over as Nato General Secretary when Britain’s George
Robertson steps down in December. Ms Devold’s name has not been
formally put forward by Norway.
DnB customers angriest in Nordic region (Aftenposten)
Norwegian banks have the most dissatisfied private customers
in the Nordic region. And worst of the worse is Den norske Bank
(DnB). This bank has the most complaints against it, and gets the
thumbs down for its complaints handling procedures. “We have the
broadest product portfolio and have branches nationwide. When you
are that widespread, the negative sides also become more visible.
But we take this kind of signal from our customers seriously, and
are working very hard to improve customer satisfaction in the
various regions,” said DnB’s head of corporate communications Tore
Dyrdahl.
Worth Noting
- According to Gry Larsen, leader of the Labour Party’s youth
wing, AUF, the most important thing for Labour in 2005 is to win
the general election. She believes that the issue of EU membership
will steal resources from the election campaign. “An EU referendum
before 2005 would be extremely unwise. Discussing Europe is
alright, I just wish it could happen without the question of a
referendum coming up,” she said.
(Aftenposten) - Foreign Minister Jan Petersen has also been mentioned as a
possible candidate for the post of Nato General Secretary. However,
he has denied that he is in the running.
(Dagbladet) - “A UN mandate is necessary, but not a sufficient premise for
Norway’s support for a military action against Iraq,” said Prime
Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik. Yesterday, Germany declared itself
firmly against such a war. Mr Bondevik is not ruling out the
possibility of Norway doing the same.
(Vårt Land) - While Germany has categorically refused to participate in a
US-led offensive against Iraq, the Progress Party and the
Conservative Party have said Norwegian soldiers and equipment could
be sent if the UN Security Council gives the go-ahead for war. “If
Norway backs a UN Security Council resolution and we are asked…
Well, if we have said yes to one thing, we would have to say yes to
the other,” said Oddvar Nilsen, leader of the Conservative Party’s
parliamentary group.
(Nationen) - Development Cooperation Minister Hilde Frafjord Johnson has
said she wants to restrict the number of South African
organizations receiving Norwegian foreign aid in order to ensure
that Norway’s donations are used as effectively as possible. She
underlined that the Ministry already knows exactly where the money
is going, but said that it is very difficult to gauge its impact.
(Aftenposten) - For the first time LO president Gerd-Liv Valla has warned that
this winter’s electricity price hikes could be a factor in this
year’s wage negotiations. According to Ms Valla, wage demands
prompted by the sharp increase in electricity prices could come up
independently of the recent agreement between the Government,
unions and employers to keep wage rises to a minimum this year.
(Verdens Gang) - The metrics employed by the researchers who have been brought
in to investigate the impact of Norwegian retail spending in Sweden
on Norway’s economy are controversial. For this reason, the
Federation of Norwegian Commercial and Service Enterprises (HSH)
feels it is strange that the Finance Ministry has hired them for
the job. According to recent figures, Norwegian consumers’ retail
spending in Sweden amounted to NOK 8.3 last year.
(Aftenposten) - The Justice Ministry has given the go-ahead for Norwegian
police officers to use pepper spray against those resisting arrest.
Amnesty International has confirmed that this type of organic spray
has not killed anyone or resulted in permanent damage. According to
the Police Directorate, all those who are to use the pepper spray
will undergo special training.
(Aftenposten) - Hydro Aluminium Automotive has signed a contract with the
British sports car manufacturer Aston Martin for the development
and production of the aluminium frame for another of the carmaker’s
models. The contract could be worth a total of well over NOK 2
billion if sales of the new sports car reach target levels.
(Dagens Næringsliv)
Today’s comment from Verdens Gang
Labour leader Jens Stoltenberg has indicated that the party’s
policy will be to send an application for Norway to join the EU in
2004/2005. In so doing, he has placed the Labour Party back in the
driving seat of Norwegian politics. Mr Stoltenberg’s comments on EU
membership will dominate the political debate at home in the time
ahead, and could lead to the dissolution of the Bondevik-led
coalition government before the 2005 general election. With a
national party conference resolution opening the way for an
application for EU membership, and recent poll figures showing a
significant majority of voters in favour of joining, Mr Stoltenberg
has most of what he needs to force the pace on the issue. The
Labour leader still has a significant number of people within the
party who oppose membership, but time is obviously working in
favour of those who support it. For this reason, opposition in his
own ranks should not hamper Mr Stoltenberg’s EU strategy. For the
moment the Labour Party will have the domestic EU arena more or
less to itself. As long as the pro-European Conservatives are
shackled by the “suicide pact” they entered into with the Christian
Democrats and Liberals when they took government office together –
to the effect that the Government would be dissolved the minute the
issue of EU membership raised its head – they will not be pushing
hard for Norway to join. Labour will be in the driving seat. It is
certainly true that the Labour leader caught most people off guard
by addressing the issue so soon. Not least on the political right,
for whom the situation would become fairly chaotic if the
Conservatives invoke the ruling coalition’s “suicide pact” and
precipitate a change of government. If that were to happen the
political map of Norway would have to be redrawn. The current one
will not do as we move towards EU membership.