EU Ambassador called to account (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)

EU Ambassador to Norway, Gerhard Sabathil, has been called to a meeting at the Foreign Office on Monday morning following the publication in yesterday’s DN of an interview with EU chargé d’affaires Howat Russel in which he described Norway’s EEA policy as ‘nonsense’. "We are extremely perturbed both by the form and the content of Mr Russel’s comments," said State Secretary Espen Barth Eide. The Government’s response of calling the EU ambassador to account is seen as serious by history professor Geir Lundestad, who is also an expert on the EU. "This is serious and a clear indication that relations are far from smooth," said Mr Lundestad, head of the Norwegian Nobel Institute.

Labour voters will come down from the fence (Vårt Land)

Over 30 per cent of Labour voters are currently sitting on the fence. Electoral experts believe that come polling day the majority of these will come down on the side of Labour. In the run-up to the election the media will be publishing a new opinion poll almost every day. According to election pundit Henry Valen, the ruling party often has many uncertain voters sitting on the fence. Those parties which are a long way from the corridors of power can afford to take up clear policy positions, without having to take responsibility for the consequences. For this reason they can profile themselves in the spring as offering clear alternatives. "But during the election campaign itself the parties on the outer fringes must defend the merits of their case, and that is when the counter arguments come more clearly to the fore," said Mr Valen.

Downturn in the north (Dagbladet)

The substantial drop in support for the Conservatives in Troms county could signal the beginning of a national downturn for the party. According to election pundit Marcus Buck, political trends often manifest themselves first in the North of Norway. The poll, carried out by Norfakta for five newspapers in Troms county, shows that the Conservatives have lost one in five votes since June. The downturn amounts to 5.6 percentage points and means that the party has the backing of 20.2 per cent of the voters in Troms. Conservative Party chairman Jan Petersen, however, is unworried. "We are still way ahead of our former rivals," he said.

Kristin Halvorsen steps up pressure on PM (Dagsavisen)

Socialist Left Party leader Kristin Halvorsen is stepping up the pressure on Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg over the environment. If he wants the support of the Socialist Left Party after the election he will have to forget his plans for gas-fired power stations. This is Ms Halvorsen’s clear-cut message to Jens Stoltenberg, exactly four weeks ahead of the election on 10 September. Today, the Socialist Left Party, the Centre Party and the Labour Party together have a majority in the Storting. If the three parties retain that majority after the election, the gas-fired power station issue could decide who forms the next government. Even though both the Labour Party and the Conservatives are extremely keen to build gas-fired power stations, both are dependent on the cooperation of parties who are dead against.

Cheaper food could help Labour (Dagbladet)

It has now been proved – food prices really have fallen as a result of the VAT reform. Petrol prices have also gone down. But will this help Labour’s election campaign? "Yes, I would think that lower prices will give a boost to the sitting government. A 9.1 per cent drop in food prices is considerable, but we have no previous experience to show what influence the consumer price index has on an election result. However, I would imagine that the Labour Party will use it for all it is worth in its election campaign," said election expert Henry Valen of the Institute for Social Research.

NOK 40 billion in reduced VAT sunk without trace (Verdens Gang/Saturday)

The Government’s VAT reform is NOK 40 billion short of being a success, according to calculations commissioned by VG. Agriculture Minister Bjarne Håkon Hanssen has now said he will investigate Orkla and other companies suspected of not doing their part to cut prices. Figures published by the Ministry of Agriculture yesterday show that food prices have fallen by 9.1 per cent since the VAT reform came into effect on 1 July. Cutting VAT on food in half was supposed to cut prices by 9.7 per cent. The difference between 9.1 and 9.7 per cent amounts to NOK 397 billion on an annual basis. The figures show that most product groups fall far short of the expected cut in prices.

Socialist Left Party calls for more information from UN Security Council (Aftenposten)

A lack of information on Norway’s activities in the UN Security Council are preventing an open debate on key issues, according to the Socialist Left Party, who complain that the UN delegation’s website is no longer being updated. The Foreign Ministry admits that this has not been designated a priority task, and has promised to do better in future.

Worth noting

• In an effort to prevent delays the Airport Express Train and the National Rail Administration will start issuing each other with fines, which could cost both companies millions of kroner. (Aftenposten)
• Twelve near misses in just one month and massive media focus has led to a fear of flying and anxiety among SAS employees. This summer SAS chief pilot Svenn Oddli was forced to send a memo to SAS employees to calm nerves jangled by recent media coverage. "Of course, even SAS employees can experience a fear of flying," said Captain Oddli. (Dagsavisen/Saturday)
• The latest survey of the workforce carried out by the Central Bureau of Statistics shows that almost half of all working women have part-time jobs, and that they work in traditionally ‘female’ occupations. 4.5 per cent of those working in the male-dominated construction industry have part-time jobs, while as many as 18.1 per cent of employees in the predominantly female hotel and restaurant sector work part time. (Klassekampen)
• Earlier this year Fred Olsen suffered a swingeing defeat at the hands of his little brother Petter over control of the family’s collection of paintings by Edvard Munch. Fred Olsen feels the City Court judge treated his arguments unfairly, and has now lodged an appeal. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Norwegian huntsmen spend well over NOK 1 billion each year on weapons, clothes, hunting rights and provisions. They have increasingly expensive tastes and prefer brand-named items. The number of women who go hunting is increasing steadily. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• The Norwegian/Swedish wolf population is growing, despite last winter’s aggressive culling by huntsmen on snow scooters and in helicopters. At least a dozen litters have been born this year, and the wolf population now numbers 120-140 animals. (Aftenposten)

Today’s comment from Aftenposten

The Foreign Ministry has called the EU Ambassador to Norway to a meeting today to tell him that it is not particularly friendly or diplomatic to describe Norway’s EEA policy as ‘nonsense’. It was not the ambassador himself who said this, but the EU’s chargé d’affaires to Norway, Howat Russel, in an interview with Dagens Næringsliv at the end of last week. Mr Russel, a career diplomat, was asked to give his opinion on Norway’s sale of gas to the Continent through the state-controlled Norwegian Gas Negotiation Committee (GFU), an arrangement the EU claims is in breach of the EEA Agreement. The issue of gas exports is to all intents and purposes a thing of the past, since the Government has agreed to close down the GFU. However, Norway has never accepted the EU’s view that the GFU falls under the scope of the EEA Agreement. On this point, the Norwegian Government and the EU disagree. When a disagreement arises, the parties search for a diplomatic solution or take the matter to court as stipulated by the EEA Agreement. It is simply not acceptable for one of the parties to take on the role of an old-fashioned superpower, and make arrogant and patronizing comments about another country’s foreign policy. Norway is no colony, even though the country is not a member of the EU. We are currently in the middle of an election campaign in Norway, and the scope for nonsense is therefore greater than normal. But that privilege does not extend to foreign diplomats. We expect that this will be brought home to the EU’s ambassador in no uncertain terms when he arrives at the Foreign Ministry today. Perhaps the Ministry’s political leadership should take the opportunity to discuss the Sampo affair with the Ambassador. Providing some additional information about how Norwegian legislation regulating the finance industry relates to the EEA Agreement would in any case be a good idea, judging by all the ‘nonsense’ which has been written about Sampo and Storebrand. The most important thing, however, is to get these problems sorted out before relations between Norway and the EU become completely deadlocked.