"The broad agreement within the committee will bolster the position of the armed forces," commented Bjørn Tore Godal, Norwegian Minister of Defence, on the recommendations of the Norwegian Parliament’s defence committee regarding the long-term Defence Bill. The committee’s recommendation is largely supportive of the Government’s proposals for restructuring of the armed forces. "The Government has won endorsement for the main thrust and overall objectives of its restructuring proposals."

The committee backed the Government’s objective of reducing the number of defence personnel by around 5 000 and cutting the operating costs of the armed forces by some NOK 2bn.

"This is the core of the committee’s recommendations," said the Minister. "The committee has also endorsed the Government’s view that the armed forces have to be modernised to meet the challenges of a new era. Overall, the upshot is that the committee has recognised the sense of urgency that the Government was seeking to promote through Parliamentary Bill no. 45 (2000–01)."

The majority on the defence committee recommends that the size of the military structure should be somewhat larger than that proposed by the Government. For example, the Home Guard ( Heimevernet) is to be maintained with its current scope and organisation. The Army is to gain an extra brigade, and a further five Skjold-class missile-torpedo boats are to be purchased, in addition to the existing vessel. The committee has also agreed in principle that the fighter aircraft fleet is to be renewed between 2010 and 2015, if necessary through supplementary budget allocations. The committee supports 90% of the cutbacks proposed in the Bill, while recommending a number of amendments with regard to the location of military bases – with Heistadmoen, Haslemoen, Dombås and Magerø remaining operational, for instance. However, the amendments proposed by the committee generate a need for additional funding beyond that proposed by the Government and the Labour Party. The size of this increased budgetary requirement will have to be calculated more precisely by the Ministry over the coming days.

"As far as the Government is concerned, the important thing is that the committee supported the general thrust of our restructuring proposals," Mr Godal emphasised. The committee was in favour of virtually all the proposed rationalisation measures, including unanimous agreement that the Headquarters Defence Command at Huseby should be disbanded. However, there was no majority for the Government’s proposal to integrate the Defence Chief and his strategic functions into the Ministry of Defence. "Nevertheless, through extensive reorganisation, co-location of the Ministry and the office of the Defence Chief, and a major slimming-down of the management structure, we can still achieve many of the same benefits," noted the Minister. "What’s more, there was a majority in favour of drastic cuts in the management structure, and hence in military-related activities in the Oslo area."

The majority on the committee, consisting of the Labour Party and the Conservatives, recommended that the armed forces’ operational HQ should be located in Stavanger, sharing premises with the NATO sub-regional HQ at Jåttånuten. "Cooperation within NATO is the main pillar of our defence and security policy," said the Minister, "so we are committed to maintaining our close working relationship with the Alliance at headquarters level too."