EØS-rådet. Utenriksministerens innlegg på vegne av Norge.

Dear colleagues,

I would like to underline some issues that are of particular importance to my Government.

First, the EEA Agreement has proved to be a success. The Agreement’s dynamic nature and the way we apply it has made it a well-functioning tool to expand the Internal Market to the EEA/EFTA States.

We enjoy good working relations with the EU, also stated in the Council Conclusions from December last year. We look forward to developing these good relations with the Council as well as the European External Action Services and the Commission.

Second, I would like to turn your attention to three issues of particular importance.

Regarding the deposit guarantee scheme we support EU efforts to get in place sound financial regulations to prevent future financial crisis. The establishment of new surveillance bodies and a deposit guarantee scheme are important tools.
 
My county experienced a severe and systemic banking crisis in the period 1988-1993. Ensuring financial stability and preventing new crises were main objectives when we strengthened Norwegian financial regulations in the aftermath of the crisis.

One should take into account specific national features and differences to ensure a robust system.

To Norway it is therefore essential to be able to maintain our deposit guarantee scheme for bank depositors.

If my country were to apply the harmonised EU deposit guarantee level of 100,000 Euro, the relative coverage would be much lower in Norway than in the EU. Even with our present coverage level of 250 000 euro, the share of Norwegian deposits that are covered is significantly lower than the corresponding share in the EU.

Regarding the third postal directive, serious concerns have been expressed regarding the possibility of maintaining efficient and high-quality nation-wide postal services in a liberalised market.
 
Unease and uncertainty have been prevalent, especially in the reactions of our regions and among the postal employees. It is a challenge to ensure sound infrastructure, including for postal services, in a sparsely populated country like Norway. Issues concerning the provision of fundamental public services in the regions are at the heart of Norwegian political debate. 

My Government will ensure high quality and affordable universal postal services. Frequent delivery and uniform tariffs are key in this respect.

A state owned company, Posten Norge AS, has been given responsibility for providing postal services in Norway for delivery of postal letters not exceeding 50 grams. The unprofitable obligations carried by Posten Norge is financed partly as an exclusive right and partly by funds from the national budget allocated annually.

Experience from some EU states questions whether the inclusion of the directive into the EEA Agreement could influence salaries and working conditions in the postal sector in a negative way.  

On the whole there are strong arguments for not including the directive into the EEA Agreement. We expect the matter to be brought forward, when appropriate, in accordance with the relevant procedures of the EEA Agreement.

Regarding the directive on audiovisual services you are aware of our position. We maintain our view to keep our exemption and to uphold the advertisement ban on alcohol. We are now awaiting your response on our letter to Commissioner Kroes.

Third and final, I will thank the Hungarian presidency-in-office for an excellent cooperation. I am looking forward to continuing this good cooperation with the Polish presidency.

Thank you for your attention.