Norway sends funds to Poland
June 14, 2011
Norway is earmarking a record amount of funds for social and environmental programs in Poland, the equivalent of EUR 578 million, after Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg signed a landmark agreement with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk in Gdansk late last week. The money is part of Norway’s funding obligations through its European economic cooperation [...]
Pro-EU movement in shambles
June 10, 2011
Proponents of Norwegian membership in the European Union (EU) are few and far between these days, and the organization promoting EU membership is itself in crisis. Its leader is quitting and economic support is hard to find. Trygve G Nordby, who took over as secretary general of the pro-EU Europabevegelsen just 18 months ago, confirmed [...]
Historic ‘no’ to an EU directive
May 23, 2011
Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre had an unpleasant task on Monday, telling EU officials in Brussels that Norway wouldn’t be going along with an EU directive on postal services. It’s the first time Norway has indicated it plans to use its veto right. Norway’s “no” on the so-called “post-directive” hasn’t had any dire consequences [...]
Government owes widowers millions
April 26, 2011
Around 3,500 Norwegian widowers are still owed pension money denied to them by a 1976 law that was ruled to discriminate on the basis of gender by a European court in 2007. The implementation of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Court judgment of four years ago is overseen by EFTA’s Surveillance Authority (ESA), which [...]
Labour leaders lose on EU post veto
April 11, 2011
The Labour Party’s national meeting over the weekend didn’t end quite how party leaders had wanted it to. Labour Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre were nonetheless putting a brave face on their defeat at the hands of party members, who pushed through what likely will be Norway’s first veto ever [...]
Protests greet new data storage law
April 5, 2011
Members of the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget) used more than nine hours to debate a controversial new data storage law pressed upon them by the European Union (EU), amidst noise from the gallery and protests on the floor. A slim and unconventional majority finally approved the measure Monday night, but opponents vow to keep fighting for [...]
Norway among EU’s most obedient
March 29, 2011
Norwegian lawmakers and bureaucrats obediently follow directives issued by the European Union (EU), now probably on controversial data storage rules as well, even though Norway isn’t an EU member. The latest example of obedience brought together arch-rivals Labour and the Conservatives, because of their leaders’ desires to avoid an EU veto. The two parties made [...]
Høyre loses voters on data storage deal
March 16, 2011
An unusual amount of members are leaving The Conservative party (Høyre) after the party decided to go along with a controversial EU-imposed directive to store personal data. Without Høyre’s support, the parliament had seemed poised to lodge its first veto ever. Even though Norway is not a member of the EU, it’s expected to conform [...]
Asylum policy strictest in Europe
February 17, 2011
Norway’s policies for granting asylum and residence status to immigrants are among the strictest in Europe, according to some human rights experts. Between 1996 and 2008, 5 million undocumented migrants were given the right to stay in Europe. None were allowed to stay in Norway. “Even when he has a choice, (Labour Prime Minister) Jens [...]
Foreign bus owners face new limits
February 14, 2011
Norwegian bus owners seem to be getting the protection they’ve wanted, reports newspaper Aftenposten. From this summer, their foreign competitors will only be allowed to operate in Norway for a maximum of 30 days in a row and 45 days in total for the year, if a proposal from the Ministry of Transport is adopted. [...]
Norway poised to reject directive
February 10, 2011
Norwegian politicians now look likely to vote against implementing a European Economic Area (EEA) directive on the storing of personal data – which would represent the first-ever Norwegian veto of an EEA decree. Parliamentary debate on the controversial proposal, which would see traffic data on all electronic communication in the country stored for security purposes [...]
Norway may lose some status at EU
January 25, 2011
UPDATED: The European Union’s new organization for its foreign relations could mean an end to the relatively privileged status that Norway, which isn’t a member of the EU, nonetheless has enjoyed through the years. Norway has also been muzzled at the EU court in Luxembourg and is lobbying to regain a voice. Newspaper Aftenposten reported [...]
State to pay for health care abroad
January 19, 2011
Norwegians stuck on long waiting lists for operations or other necessary medical care at local hospitals will soon be able to travel to hospitals elsewhere in Europe for treatment. The state will pick up the bill, just as it does at hospitals in Norway. Treatment abroad will become an option, reports newspaper Aftenposten, when the [...]
EU data snooping law set to pass
December 10, 2010
The government looks set to go along with a controversial EU directive to store telephone and e-mail traffic data for the inspection of the police, despite reservations from two of the government’s three coalition partners. The EU’s Data Retention Directive (DRD) was approved in Brussels in 2007. According to the directive, member states will have [...]
Data retention veto may hurt
November 25, 2010
If Norwegian politicians veto an EU-directive on data retention, the country may find itself out of favor with EU officials in Brussels. Norway’s Labour Party-led government wants parliament to vote on whether to include the new EU rules in Norwegian law before Christmas. Norway is usually among the first to implement new EU-directives in accordance [...]
