Norway lifts import ban (Dagsavisen/Saturday)

"I am pleased that the Norwegian Animal Health Authority has advised us to lift the import ban," said Agriculture Minister Bjarne Håkon Hanssen. The traditional cross-border shopping trips have now been saved, both for meat-hungry Norwegians and Swedish shopkeepers. And Mr Hanssen has avoided being caught in the middle between Norwegian veterinary experts and an increasingly impatient European Commission. "The EU’s threat to bar Norway from the veterinary committee was real enough," said the Agriculture Minister yesterday.

Highest pension costs in western Europe (Aftenposten)

In 50 years Norway will spend 18 per cent of its revenues on pensions, according to an EU survey. This means that today’s nursery children will have to spend more than three times as much on pensions as today’s pensioners did during the 1980s. Norway currently spends just seven per cent of its revenues on pensions. Generous pensions, falling oil prices and an increasing number of elderly are among the reasons that Norway will have such high pension costs in the future.

Conservatives refuse to help Christian Democrats (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)

The Conservatives are refusing to help Kjell Magne Bondevik regain office at the head of a centre alliance government. Conservative leader Jan Petersen has made that quite clear. The Conservatives would rather let Jens Stoltenberg continue as prime minister than help into power a new government in which they are not represented. "We have no wish to assist in a change of government in which we are not included. That would be asking too much of us. If there is going to be a change of government, we have to be a part of it," says Mr Petersen.

Courting the Conservatives (Verdens Gang/Sunday)

Odd Anders With, Christian Democrat deputy chairman, has gone surprisingly far in his courtship of the Conservative Party. At the same time misgivings about the Centre Party is growing. "The Conservatives deserve credit for turning towards the centre and rejecting any possible coalition with the Progress Party," says Mr With. The Christian Democrats will hold their annual conference in two weeks, and the future of the centre alliance as an alternative government is becoming a major issue.

Divided centre does not worry Centre Party (Nationen)

Forces within the Christian Democratic Party are sceptical with regard to a new centre alliance government and are turning to the Conservatives and Jan Petersen – without this development causing panic in the Centre Party. "Conflicts over the additional cash benefit for the under-threes and the right of homosexuals to adopt are not enough to put an end to the cooperation between the Centre Party and the Christian Democrats," says Centre Party deputy chairperson Liv Signe Navarsete. Nor is she concerned by the Liberal’s recent flirting with the Conservatives over industrial policy.

Labour Party calls for discussions on constitutional reform (Aftenposten/Sunday)

The Labour Party will propose that the Storting appoints a constitutional commission among whose tasks will be to look into the institution of head of state. "Behind the proposal is not the debate about whether Norway should be a monarchy or a republic, but it is natural that a constitutional commission should also look at the wording of the Norwegian Constitution and evaluate what kind of head of state we have," says Labour MP Gunnar Skaug, leader of the Storting’s Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs Committee.

Clarification of state’s many roles (Dagens Næringsliv)

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is planning to sort out the various roles the state plays as both industrial owner and regulatory authority. Mr Stoltenberg is considering whether to put all the state-owned companies into a new, purpose-designed ownership organization. The Norwegian state owns shares in Norwegian companies worth around NOK 500 billion. At the same time the state defines important aspects of the framework in which those companies and their competitors operate.

Too little rubbish in Norway (Aftenposten/Sunday)

In direct contrast to the official policy on waste, where sorting at source and recycling are the top priorities, Norwegian local authorities are investing in incinerators. Over 20 new incinerators are in the planning stage. The Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature is warning against the importation of household rubbish. "If all the incinerators are built, we will have an incineration capacity in this country which is twice as large as the amount of rubbish we produce," says consultant Christine Hvitsand.

Worth Noting

1. Kjell Magne Bondevik is finding it hard to believe that the Conservatives would prefer to let Jens Stoltenberg continue as prime minister instead of helping the centre alliance parties to take over the reins of government. (Dagens Næringsliv)
2. The Government will walk off with nurseries, residential property, equipment and business premises which belong to the Oslo City Council when it takes over the country’s hospitals on 1 January next year. The local authority is now considering whether the state take-over violates the Norwegian Constitution. (Dagsavisen/Saturday)
3. "I made a mistake. Yes, I regret it. We should have acted differently over the past four or five months. We should have put the interests of the party first and acted differently. Instead, we put the interests of others first, the interests of certain young people," said Carl I. Hagen on Saturday. (Dagsavisen/Sunday)
4. In contrast to the centre parties, the Conservatives have not completely rejected a government alliance with the Progress Party. But Jan Petersen has now come close to doing so following the recent exclusions and suspensions in the party. "At the moment the Progress Party is not in a position to be part of any government. I think the party itself realises that too," he says. (Aftenposten)
5. Bishop Odd Bondevik has called on parish leaders to consider whether the traditional Sunday morning church service could be moved to another time. The Church of Norway’s senior bishop is far from certain that 11 o’clock on a Sunday morning is the best time to invite people to a church service. (Vårt Land)
6. Talk about a good deal. In 2001 the monarchy will cost the Norwegian people around NOK 120 million. A republic would cost half that amount. (Verdens Gang/Saturday)

Today’s comment from Dagsavisen/Sunday

Debates in Norway about the monarchy vs. a republic have always fizzled into nothing. From the beginning, support among the Norwegian people for the monarchy has been so strong that the question of abolishing the Crown has been seen as more a curiosity than a serious issue. However, recent opinion polls show that support for the royal family has been weakened. The current debate could therefore prove to be more significant than previous discussions. The fact that the Crown has its legitimacy from the 1905 referendum indicates that only a new referendum could abolish it. In our opinion, the Government and the Storting – in cooperation with the King – should make the preparations necessary to hold a referendum on the monarchy once we have passed the centenary of the last referendum on the issue. If the people should vote in favour of the monarchy, the issue will have been resolved for many years to come. If they vote against, work should begin to introduce the first republic in Norwegian history.