People should be given better opportunities to wander freely in outlying forests and fields. We should all have the same access to the natural scenery that surrounds us. The rights of the general public are one of the guiding principles of Norwegian nature management, and private property should not be an impediment to outdoor recreation and the preservation of the natural environment. The diversity of species must be ensured through protection, but also by each individual taking responsibility and helping to pass on a knowledge of the sustainable utilisation of natural resources.

Information technology makes knowledge more available. Communication between people across big geographical distances becomes easier. If increased democracy and participation are to be the results, it is necessary for everyone to be able to learn how to use and be able to gain access to the tools that are needed. If not, information technology can create increased gaps and disparities in the society instead of greater equality. Thus, our main objective for information technology as well is to ensure equality and an equitable distribution.

Genetic engineering provides knowledge about life at its origin and greater possibilities of preventing inherited diseases. More information and increased opportunities are also accompanied by difficult choices relating to the methods of treatment that should be permitted and the types of consequences that increased knowledge of the foetus should be allowed to give rise to. To some extent the society can prohibit or permit certain developments, but increased knowledge and greater opportunities also make greater demands on our individual responsibilities. Openness and free access to information are just as important as permitting and forbidding things. Public debates on these matters help clarify viewpoints and develop attitudes.

The opportunity to actively participate in the debates and to be able to influence the decisions that are made generally calls for access to information and understanding. The Labour Party wants to make an effort to see that the administration and politicians will arrange matters in a way that promotes greater participation in the political process.

Consumers have power by virtue of their numbers and their choices in the market. They should also have influence by virtue of their rights. Therefore, it is important to organise consumers. This is the case in the private sector, but also in relation to the public sector as the main provider of welfare arrangements. The public sector should meet the users in the best way possible. We want to co-ordinate services and information so that it becomes easier for the individual to know where they should go to make inquiries. At the same time we want to ensure access to information, openness and prompt answers to inquiries, while making sure that opening hours in the public sector are accommodated to people's needs.

Technology and Ethics

The Labour Party wants to face new technological possibilities with an ethical attitude based on respect for human worth and the rights of the individual.
Technological innovations result in new positive opportunities in many areas. We want to employ modern medical knowledge and technology to people's advantage within specified ethical constraints. In some contexts these new opportunities challenge our ethical principles. This is especially true in the case of certain health and treatment methods. Our ethical basis when confronting new opportunities should be the inviolability of human worth. In order to attend to the ethical aspects of the technological development, there must be full openness and freedom of access to research and research results.

Biotechnology and Health
Biotechnology makes use of micro-organisms, human, animal and plant cells, or parts of them to produce new products. Genetic engineering, which makes it possible to find hereditary tendencies and to determine how these can possibly be altered, is a field of biotechnology. Genetic engineering provides an opportunity to cure diseases that were once incurable. We would like to take advantage of these opportunities within accepted ethical constraints. Except when treating the illness of a single individual, there should be no planned genetic alteration of human beings of any sort. New ways of diagnosing foetuses and genetic tests that are administered after birth should only be permitted within a publicly governed health system. In order to build trust in medical research in the fields of biotechnology and genetic engineering, there should be as much openness as possible and an opportunity for the public to have freedom of access to the results. Only in this way can necessary public debates be kept alive. This is important from a democratic point of view and because it helps establish standards and values in the society.

Protection of Individuals in Genetic Tests
It is currently possible to map out an individual's genetic makeup and hence his or her hereditary tendencies at an early point in time. On the one hand this makes it possible to prevent diseases that the individual is predisposed to. It also makes it possible to practice discrimination and exclusion on the basis of the genetic makeup of the person in question. It is therefore necessary to protect this information with legislation. Information about the individual's hereditary tendencies must be regarded as strictly confidential. Each individual must decide for him or herself whether these tests and the information they provide are desirable, and if so give his or her written consent to them. Regardless of the profession, present and future employers should not be allowed to offer or require genetic testing. Information about a person's hereditary tendencies also includes information about a person's relatives. This may be information of which it will be important that they be made aware. For some inherited diseases where an early diagnosis may be completely crucial for the disease's development and outcome, it may be necessary to provide this information. What's more, the principle should be honoured that it should be up to the individual to decide whether he or she will have a better life by acquiring the information that the genetic tests can provide.

Artificial Insemination
Reproduction technology to remedy involuntary childlessness has undergone a frenzied development in recent years. The possibility of in vitro fertilisation can now be offered to both men and women who are infertile. It should not be permitted, however, to use donor sperm or donated eggs in such cases. Dispensation from this rule can only be given in case of certain special medical conditions, e.g. when women are bearers of serious inherited diseases. In such exceptions the person who bears the child should be regarded as the child's mother. Fertilised eggs can be stored in frozen condition for three years after the fertilisation has occurred. It should be permissible to conduct limited research on extra fertilised eggs, but each research project of this type must be authorised beforehand by the public authorities. There is no guarantee as regards the length of the waiting period for the treatment of involuntary childless persons, so it will depend on the capacity of the individual hospital. When this treatment is provided by the public health services, it should continue to be partly financed the individual through user fees in combination with public sector funding.

Transplants
Transplants involve the transfer of organs or tissue. The legislation in this area covers the transfer of organs or tissue from one individual to another. Organs can be taken from a living person if they are organs or tissue that the donor can relinquish without the deterioration of his or her own health. In these cases the donor should give written consent to the transplant. Operations of this sort should only be carried out when they do not entail any danger to the donor. In cases where organs or tissues can only be taken from a deceased person, we want to formulate regulations which ensure that in cases where the deceased has not given his or her consent beforehand, consent must be given by the deceased's next of kin before the operation can take place.

Organs and Tissues from Animals
The genetic code is universal and applies to all species. Experiments on transplants of organs and tissues from genetically modified animals to human beings are now underway. A broad investigation of all of the ethical, medical and animal rights aspects of these possibilities should be conducted.

Genetically Modified Plants
By employing biotechnology it is possible to alter the genes of plants. The purpose may be to make them more resistant and robust. Positive results, such as less use of spray chemicals and bigger harvests make this a desirable technology, which should be studied further. However, it is also necessary to devise rules in this area that protect the natural environment against deterioration and damage. This is especially important because it is difficult to foresee all of the consequences of releasing genetically modified organisms in nature. The requirement must be that the production and use of genetically modified organisms should occur in a way that is ethically and socially justifiable. It should be carried out in accordance with the principle of sustainable development and should not give rise to any damaging effects on health or the environment. This entails that knowledge about how the environment will react to the release of genetically modified organisms should be acquired beforehand to the extent that this is possible.
Abortion

The Labour Party will implement measures to reduce the number of abortions. Women's right to self-determination should be ensured.
A reduction in the number of abortions should be achieved by improving the information on and increasing the use of contraceptives. Ultrasound and foetal diagnostics will make it possible to acquire knowledge about the foetal condition at a steadily earlier phase of the pregnancy. Regardless of the information available, the woman's right to make her own decision must be the crucial
factor in determining whether or not to terminate a pregnancy. More support and information should be given to each individual woman. This is especially important in order to be able to assist women who may find themselves confronted with an ethically difficult choice through their knowledge of the health of the foetus.

Prevention of Pregnancy
Information campaigns about sexual relations and contraception and the increased availability of contraceptives are the most important measures for reducing the number of abortions, and they are also crucial for preventing the spread of sexually transmittable diseases. This campaign should be aimed especially at teenagers and youth in the 20-24 year old age group because it is in these age groups that the number of abortions is highest. Boys must also be a special target group. There should be mandatory instruction on sexual relations, sexuality and contraception at all grades in lower and upper secondary schools. This must occur in co-operation with the municipal health services. Teachers responsible for this kind of instruction should be given special training. Promotional and information campaigns should be carried out regularly. These must be based on the assumption that for many people it is not primarily a lack of knowledge about contraceptives that prevents their use. Contraceptives should be made more available by distributing free condoms in youth milieu. In addition to doctors, we would like to experiment with giving municipal midwives and nurses the authority to prescribe oral contraceptives. Later on we want to evaluate whether this arrangement should be made more general and permanent. The issuing of free oral contraceptives from maternal and child health centres should be initiated as a trial arrangement and be closely monitored by qualified professionals. It should be possible to sell high dosage oral contraceptives, the so-called Çmorning-after pillsÈ, at pharmacies without a prescription. As a measure to reduce unwanted pregnancies, there should be greater opportunities to undergo sterilisation.

The Right of Self-determination As Knowledge
about The Foetal Condition Increases
The Act concerning Abortion is based on the woman's right of self-determination and on progressively increasing legal protection of the foetus. The right of self-determination must apply because it is the woman herself who is most capable of evaluating her own situation. Progressively increasing legal protection means that concern for the foetus should weigh more and more heavily as it approaches a situation where it can survive outside of the mother's body. Self-determination currently applies up to the 12th week of pregnancy. After the 12th week, a committee makes the decision in consultation with the mother. After the 18th week the pregnancy can only be terminated if the foetus is not capable of surviving, or if the mother's health is threatened. Increasingly advanced forms of genetic foetal diagnostics and ultrasound examinations mean that it will gradually become possible to acquire relatively detailed information about the foetal condition prior to the 12th week. Information about foetal health can put the woman in an ethically difficult situation. We do not think that this requires changes in women's right of self-determination. Regardless of the information that is available, it is the woman herself who is most capable of taking care of both the foetus's and her own situation. Therefore, the woman's point of view must be given great priority even after the 12th week.

Ultrasound and Foetal Diagnostics Services
As a general rule the public health services currently offer women an ultrasound examination in the 18th week of the pregnancy. Genetic foetal diagnostics, the so-called amniotic fluid test, is offered after the 12th week, but only to families in a high-risk situation and to women over 38 years of age. Gradually, these methods will make it possible to acquire information about the foetal condition prior to the 12th week, i.e. within the time limit for abortion on demand. Ultrasound examinations are already available from private doctors prior to the 12th week. Ultrasound is also employed to survey various illnesses. It is therefore difficult to limit the possibility of receiving
these examinations from private doctors. In light of the developments in this area it should be regularly evaluated whether ultrasound examinations should be offered by the public health services at any early point in the pregnancy. This can help reduce the private market for these examinations. The right to provide genetic foetal
diagnostics should be reserved for the public health services. Public services ensure a greater possibility of maintaining national control over who should receive these
examinations. It also provides a better opportunity to follow up the individual if
it is discovered that the foetus has a disease or developmental defect.

Counselling
It is necessary to provide counselling to women who are considering abortion on the basis of knowledge about developmental defects in the foetus. In the remaining cases the current arrangement, in which a doctor, midwife or nurse provides information about the actual operation and its medical consequences, should be improved. We think there is no reason to introduce mandatory ethical counselling. The public sector must have the main responsibility for those who seek advice and guidance in matters concerning abortion. This help must be provided impartially. The number of abortions must primarily be reduced by increasing the use of contraceptives and through a policy that improves children's circumstances in the society at large and that makes it easier for women to combine an education or a job with the responsibility of being a mother.

Drug-induced Abortions
Abortions are currently carried out by surgery. Experiments should also be undertaken with drug-induced abortions under the direction of the public health system. The necessary condition for this must be that the woman is carefully followed up after the abortion. In other words, access should not be given to so-called abortion pills at the chemists as this would leave the woman very alone in both the decision and the abortion. Pharmacy sale of abortion pills would also make it more difficult to prevent abortion because the knowledge of the number of and reasons for abortion would be less.


Consumer Power

The Labour Party wants to give consumers a stronger position and a better basis for making informed and reasonable choices based on insight.
It is a big challenge to ensure that the individual gets enough information and knowledge to make critical choices in the market. In order to serve consumer interests, we want to introduce the possibility of class action suits, improve labelling systems and simplify the consumer bureaucracy.

Food Safety
Increased international trade in food products requires good labelling and controls. Effective food safety for consumers can only be achieved through global co-operation. In the International Trade Organisation and in UN bodies, Norway will push for mandatory labelling of food products that have been genetically modified or produced with growth-promoting hormones. The requirement that the content of additives must be labelled should be absolute, both in Norway and internationally; but good labelling systems are not sufficient to ensure consumers food safety. It must also be easy for consumers to obtain information about what the labelling means; various consumer organisations will have to make an active effort to improve this situation. Above everything else, the control of food products and hygiene to ensure that they meet a health standard that complies with the regulations must function effectively at every step in the system - i.e. in relation to importers, shops, hotels, restaurants and the food products industry. A simplification, clarification of roles and better co-ordination of the extensive legislation and considerable number of bodies that have responsibilities in this area are needed. It is necessary to improve the organisation of the food control authority both nationally and locally in order to enable it to perform its tasks as well as possible.

Informed Choices
The need for information that gives consumers a basis for making informed and sensible choices is increasing. Each individual needs information in order to deal with buying pressure and stay critically informed in the growing jungle of goods and services. Active enforcement of the ban on misleading advertisements is necessary in order to ensure that limits are set and critical attention is given to new marketing methods. Consumer education should be expanded in primary and secondary education in order to improve children's awareness of their role as consumers. This is particularly true of knowledge about labelling and product descriptions, marketing methods, borrowing and debt handling, environment-friendly patterns of consumption, product guarantees and product safety. The pricing of the services of professional groups such as doctors, dentists and lawyers must be better publicised so that consumers are given a good basis for evaluating and comparing price levels and bills. White goods, motor vehicles and other products that employ electrical current or other forms of energy should be given a clear energy label. Environmental labelling should be further developed in new fields and should especially provide better information about which goods are recyclable.

Legal Status
As a result of today's mass production and distribution, a large number of persons can be affected when a product has a defect or deficiency, but the costs of damage suits filed by individuals will often be much greater than the disputed sum and the individuals' personal finances. Thus, an introduction of the right to file class action suits is an important measure for improving consumers' opportunities to assert their rights. This entails that individuals, organisations or public services will be able to file a suit on behalf of a group that has an interest in that same suit. Furthermore, consumer confidence is a necessary condition if free trade and the European single market are to function the way they are intended. This requires more detailed rules about how a dispute should be resolved between consumers in one country and an enterprise in another. In particular, new forms of payment, such as various bank and credit cards, create a need for new clarifications of the consumer's national and international legal status.

Third Parties
Consumers are often affected as third parties by conflicts in working life. Some professional groups and economic interests have special opportunities to victimise the public with constant solidarity actions and other labour-related actions. If this power is abused in order to press for special advantages with measures that are unreasonable in relation to the content of the problem, the right to strike and the solidarity of the society are undermined. The power of certain professions and the interests of certain groups should not be wielded in an irresponsible and unwarranted way without due consideration for the interests of the society. Resolutions that have been legally passed in elected bodies must be respected and not intentionally disregarded. If the set of agreements is to apply in the same way in all professional fields, the overall responsibility for achieving this must be delegated to the main federation. This entails that the Act regarding Labour Disputes should be amended so that the right to demand negotiations is reserved for the main organisations and their member associations.

The Consumer Institutions
A number of public bodies and activities deal with consumer matters. New bodies have usually been established as new tasks have arisen, often in connection with administering a particular set of laws and regulations. There is a need for organising the consumer institutions in a well-arranged and co-ordinated way. Such an organisation must be based on a clear division of roles between the bodies that are supposed to carry out the public administrative, information and watchdog functions, and those that should exercise an independent ombudsman's function. The affiliations and functions of the Consumer Council's county offices should also be evaluated more closely. The aim will be to improving the work on consumer affairs through a better utilisation of the total resources.

Co-operative Measures
There is no broad popular organisation relating to general consumer affairs in Norway, but housing co-operatives and consumer co-operatives organise a large part of the population in their areas of activity and give their members opportunities for democratic participation and influence. The trade union movement, the Norwegian Pensioners Association, the disabled peoples' organisations, the Norwegian Tenants Association and other interest organisations deal with consumer affairs from their particular standpoints. They also provide a number of important services and service programmes for their members. In order to develop better solutions to problems according to the users' premises, the public sector must make greater efforts to co-operate with the co-operative movement and organisations. This is particularly necessary in order to create new programmes such as everyday help in homes, housing for the elderly involving membership schemes, community advisory services, complete kindergarten coverage, and more rental housing, and in order to more effectively provide information about rights and obligations in all areas.


User-friendly Public Services

The Labour Party wants to make the public sector more capable of becoming accessible, user-friendly and punctual for the whole population.
In all public activities, efforts should be made to deal with the users in the best way possible. It is especially important that people receive prompt answers, information about public services, a place where they can make inquiries and services that are open when they are needed.

A Place to Seek Consultation
A common criticism of the public sector is that people are sent from office to office and from queue to queue in search of the proper quarter. The public sector must better co-ordinate its services and information. Users should have a well-arranged system to deal with and a place where they can make inquiries whenever possible. The new information technology provides better and better opportunities to focus primarily on the user in this way. General public service offices should be established in the municipalities where the public can obtain all requisite information and guidance. For businesses and entrepreneurs, local economic advisory centres may be the one place they should visit in order to receive help and advice. If the national insurance, employment, health and social welfare offices were all located in one place together with organisations that facilitate co-operation among these services, it would mean that many other citizens could receive better and more comprehensive help. The remaining public-oriented services should also implement similar measures in order to give the population a place in which to seek consultation. As a rule the government service that receives an inquiry should always be responsible for seeing that it is followed up either by the service itself or by other public bodies that must be drawn into the matter.

Prompt Answers
As a rule there are good explanations when answers from public activities are a long time in coming, but it is often possible to shorten the administration time in the case by changing routines and priorities out of concern for the user. Regulations and rules must be reviewed in all areas with the aim of making simplifications that can increase the ability of public authorities to provide prompt answers. Current matters should be handled within two weeks, and matters that require more extensive administrative procedures should be handled within four weeks. If for various reasons this is not possible, the users should receive an interim answer within the deadline along with an estimation of the amount of time it will take to complete the administrative procedure. This is a minimum requirement, which all public administrations must follow up and report on. In addition, it should be an important objective for improving service that they aim to provide shorter, pre-specified processing times for specific services and strive for solutions, such as toll-free information numbers, answers on the same day and immediate administrative processing of a case.

Open When They Are Needed
In order for public welfare services to become as accessible as possible, they must better accommodate their opening hours to the needs of the population. It is not very user-friendly if public offices and cultural programmes are primarily open at times when the majority of the population is at work or at school. To improve user services and the society's overall productivity, public services should find opening hours that enable everyone to visit them without having to sacrifice working hours for this purpose. This should especially apply to leisure-time services such as museums, libraries, indoor swimming pools and art galleries, which should remain open much longer during weekends and in the afternoon and evening when most people have their leisure time. Likewise, the remaining public-oriented services must make their opening hours more user-friendly and accessible through measures such as long days and opening hours on Saturdays. Kindergartens, recreation programmes and other measures for children should arrange planning days and holidays so that as much consideration as possible is given to the children's and parent's situation.

Quality Pays
Public activities often have a monopoly in their area, so that competition with other activities cannot be the main motivation for improving quality. Nevertheless, quality pays more than ever in the public sector as well, and it is becoming increasingly important to find good quality assurance methods. User surveys that can provide a broad range of information about how the services are perceived and identify their biggest weaknesses are one good means of achieving this objective. Another useful measure is guarantees of punctuality, which have been introduced in mass transit and ought to be tested in other areas. The number of corrections of errors and the number of complaints that are handled are other sources of information that make it easier to detect weaknesses and places where improvements are needed. Criteria should be developed for evaluating schools, hospitals, kindergartens, nursing homes and institutions involved in mental health, child welfare and the care of substance abusers so that quality requirements and objectives can be better formulated in these areas as well.

Access to Information and Openness
Great attention and interest is often devoted to matters that are handled by public administrations and elected bodies. A fundamental democratic principle is that the greatest possible openness and willingness to provide access to administrative documents should be demonstrated. Even when there is clear statutory authority for exceptions to the principle of openness, there is an obligation to evaluate whether documents that are excepted from public accessibility should be wholly or partly made public. Often the greater part of the relevant documents can be published after any confidential information they may contain has been excised. The population ought to be given full confidence that their elected representatives and their administration are doing their best to allow for an open democratic debate and that they will not limit this openness unless it is strictly necessary. In order to ensure this, it is necessary to provide continuous training about the Freedom of Information Act to the responsible authorities in all public administrations.

Information about The Content of Public Services
There must be accordance between people's expectations and what public services actually should and can provide. Specific information about the content of public services should therefore be prepared, where it is clearly stated what the services include - and do not include. Information about deadlines, regulations, quality standards, rules pertaining to complaints and other relevant matters must be provided here. The user's rights and obligations should be clearly specified, and likewise any information they themselves must provide or personal initiative they must take. If people are able to find out what they are dealing with in this way, it will be easier to avoid misunderstandings and to follow up any breaches of terms that may occur. This information about the content of public services can be accompanied by guarantees of punctuality or other measures, which show that the public sector puts a great deal of emphasis on honouring its agreements with users.


IT Strategy

The Labour Party wants to make use of the possibilities inherent in information technology to carry on Norway's strong democratic traditions.
Greater freedom of choice, more knowledge for the individual, opportunities to collaborate with other users, openness and decentralisation should all be promoted. Everyone who wants it, should be given information about the use of IT and access to this communication tool. A nation-wide infrastructure with a big capacity should ensure that everyone gets a chance to take advantage of the new opportunities for electronic communications that keep arriving. A cultural and information network and a network for the public sector should be established. A separate programme for investments in IT equipment in schools and libraries should ensure training.

Nation-wide Network
Households and businesses throughout the country should be ensured the possibility of hooking up to digital networks with a transmission capacity that is large enough so that they can make use of the new forms of communication that keep arriving. In practice this may include the possibility of ordering TV programmes and films at a time that suits the individual, the opportunity to employ video telephones and telemedicine in the public health system, and the possibility of holding video meetings. In digital form, the signals for the transmission of speech, data and pictures are equivalent. They can be transmitted in a network as an integrated service. It will be possible to transmit broadcasting through the telecommunications network and telephone messages and data over the broadcasting network. In order to achieve the best possible utilisation of the country's total network resources, there should not be any restrictions on which network is used for which purpose. Intercommunication between different networks and services should be ensured with special guidelines and regulations. User control of user-owned cables should be ensured so that the owners acquire real possibilities of negotiating what the network capacity should be used to deliver, call for bids on these deliveries, and avoid unnecessary parallel cabling of residential areas. We want to encourage local participation in the shaping of the information society, among other things through co-operation among consumer networks, electrical utilities, Telenor and other IT interests.

Security
Electronic communication and data bases should be at least as secure as mail, telephone communications and other filing systems. People should feel secure that intruders cannot read their electronic mail and that electronic data bases are just as difficult to break into as any other file. In a public network there will be personal information about individuals. In many cases this will be information that no one should gain access to unless the person it concerns is present or gives consent. Technical systems should be devised that ensure the individual the right to own and control the use of information of a personal nature.

Networks
The digital networks are channels for everything that is conveyed electronically in the information society. These channels are tools for communication. The information and services that should be conveyed will be largely determined by people's wants and needs. In some areas the society must take responsibility in order to ensure a good flow of information and accessibility. For some institutions, government services and persons, networks should be established that make it possible to retrieve information directly from common data bases. A cultural and information network should be established in which libraries, archives, museums, schools and universities are hooked up. The national library should be the central node in this network. An electronic network should also be established for the public sector which links different administrative levels, sectors and government services. Electronic mailboxes and notice boards in public offices will make it possible for individuals to communicate directly with these offices from a monitor at home, at work or in a library, even outside of opening hours when little or no staff are present.

IT in Education and Libraries
Many people still do not have access to a PC at home. It will still take some time before IT becomes a natural part of the instruction in the school. In order to spread knowledge about the use of IT to everyone and prevent the technology from creating new disparities in the society, investments in schools and libraries should be specially targeted in the coming years. We want to devise an investment programme for the purchase of computers in the primary and lower secondary schools. This should be based on government incentive subsidies or favourable loan schemes. Simultaneously, software and plans for utilising IT as a pedagogical tool in instruction must be developed. This requires the training of teachers and other personnel. The public libraries should be made capable of offering all available information, providing assistance in navigating the flood of information, and serving as a base for both school pupils and those who utilise adult education programmes. IT provides good conditions for distance learning, which is an instruction method that will have to play an important role in the efforts to achieve lifelong learning. The public libraries should be information banks for everyone in the local communities. This requires that investments in equipment and the training of personnel be carried out in the libraries as well.

Control
Electronic communication is both limitless and revolutionary. It provides opportunities for free and uncontrolled news service and other dissemination of information, but it also increases the danger of the spread of violence, pornography and racism. There is little possibility of controlling electronic information. Here in Norway we must apply our national legislation to everything that is produced within our national boundaries, but since this information tool does not recognise national boundaries, we must also work internationally. This can be done by establishing international rules of law through UN conventions.

Good Norwegian Programmes
We must make sure that good Norwegian programmes are available for those who seek electronic information just as they are in the television media. Publishers, authors, researchers and educational institutions must co-operate to make Norwegian material available in the digital networks. This material must be accommodated to the reality that it will no longer be possible to talk about copies of different works in the normal sense. The moment something is put on the Internet, it can be freely copied without any deterioration in quality. Practical, manageable solutions to copyright problems must be devised in co-operation with the authors' organisations, the publishers, Kopinor (the Norwegian Reproduction Rights Organisation), libraries, research institutions and other interested parties.


The Media in The Information Society

The Labour Party wants to ensure a diverse array of media services where the popular print and broadcasting media have a strong position.
The economic and regulatory measures that benefit the popular media should be preserved and further developed in order to ensure their breadth of content. A national set of laws and regulations and international co-operation against media violence and concentration of ownership must be developed in order to create good quality information and entertainment channels. Media education and research should be beefed up. It is more crucial in media policy than in most areas of society that we be willing to adapt constraints and policy instruments to the rapid development.

Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Information
In order to prevent a conformity of information, it is crucial to ensure the media's free and independent status. This entails that a variety of information channels must be preserved both locally, regionally and nationally. The Norwegian Constitution gives special protection to freedom of expression and the free status of the printed word. The lifting of the broadcasting monopoly and the international integration of media, telecommunications and computer services puts restrictions on the things that are practically possible to achieve by public control. Ethics in the media are mainly the responsibility of the media themselves and should be based on self-policing, as in the case of the Norwegian Press Council, but the public authorities must not dismiss the possibility of establishing statutory administrative appeal systems if the self-policing schemes do not function satisfactorily. The general public must demand and expect that the fourth estate is aware of its power and responsibility. Not only do the media have a responsibility to exercise freedom of expression themselves, but they must also help ensure that the general public has the possibility of expressing itself.

The Press Structure
Norwegians read more newspapers per capita than any other nationality. The most important contributor to the rich flora of newspapers in Norway is therefore each individual newspaper buyer. In addition, the exemption from VAT of all newspapers' income from subscriptions and over-the-counter sales and the direct press subsidies to the No. 2 newspaper in larger towns and local newspapers in smaller ones help ensure that more newspapers are published than the market alone is able to support. Of these measures the VAT exemption is the most extensive and cost-intensive. The press subsidies should maintain a varied and diverse press structure both geographically and ideologically and help ensure that more than one paper is published in as many places as possible.

Broadcasting
The monopoly of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) has been replaced by a number of broadcasting channels both locally, regionally and nationally. The establishment of channel TV2 and radio station P4 has played an important role in creating nation-wide alternatives to the public broadcasting from NRK. The improvement of the regulatory framework for local broadcasting has had the same effect. The necessary condition for the flourishing of new channels in the broadcasting media has been the introduction of advertising. The emergence of commercial broadcasting programmes has contributed to greater freedom of choice without allowing a truly and equally diverse selection of media programmes to evolve. The requirement that the commercial channels generate an economic profit has resulted in an extremely uniform selection of programmes. In a modern society it is important for the media to take responsibility for informing the public and for providing a competent and critical freedom of information. In order to do justice to this responsibility, NRK is financed by license and should not evolve in the same direction as the commercial channels. Thus, it is necessary to maintain the distinction in financing between NRK and the private channels. We therefore want NRK to continue to be financed by license and to be obligated at the same time to offer good quality programmes. This is especially true of the programmes for the youngest viewers and listeners. As NRK establishes new radio and TV channels, its transmitter technology must be developed as rapidly as possible so that the whole population can receive these programmes.

The Content in The Media
The authorities should be cautious about implementing measures that directly or indirectly affect the content in the media. It is especially important nonetheless to set limits for violence and pornography. We want to give priority to the fight against violence in the visual media - a project that will have children and youth as its most important target groups. Moreover, a steadily increasing number of TV and computer games for children and adolescents are being produced. These should be subjected to the same controls and censorship as the rest of the film and video industry. Too little is known about the relationships between what we see on film and television and our attitudes and actions otherwise. We would therefore like to step up the research in this field. With the steadily increasing importance that television, films and computers are acquiring, it is important to provide better education and training in independent interpretation and analysis of the visual media's language. A growing selection of channels, programmes and services in the broadcasting sector, gives rise to the danger that foreign, and especially American, programmes will become increasingly dominant. To counteract this trend we want to ensure a large, stable production of high quality Norwegian audio-visual material. This entails that the current subsidy and incentive schemes in the audio-visual area must be beefed up. At the same time we want to strengthen the media field in the schools and likewise the education in the fields of journalism, film and television, together with media research in general.

Ownership
The concentration of ownership in the Norwegian media has increased in recent years. We would therefore like to develop legislation on ownership in the media with the aim of ensuring real opportunities for expression and a versatile selection of media alternatives both nationally and regionally. This kind of legislation should be predictable and sufficiently flexible to be able to cover the rapid developments in the media sector. It should be aimed at the media owners' total market power, not the ownership in individual media. The new ownership rules should take their point of departure from the legislation relating to competition. This allows for use of judgement in evaluating whether the competition in the market has been weakened through acquisitions and corporate mergers. The administration of legislation relating to ownership in the media should be delegated to a competent separate body.


Contemporary Culture

The Labour Party wants to conduct a cultural policy that gives the individual rewarding experiences and opportunities to participate.
Culture is a source of insight, development and welfare for the people and should therefore be a target area in our policy. The objective of public sector support of culture is to ensure variety and independence. Everyone, regardless of the social stratum or geographic region to which they belong, should have access to culture as active participants and as an audience. Disablement should not prevent people from participating in artistic and cultural endeavours. We want to help give a boost to voluntary work by improving the economic conditions and involving the voluntary organisations when decisions are to be made at the local or national levels. Contemporary cultural expression should be given better opportunities of being presented to a broad range of people. At the same time we want to preserve our historical heritage through the protection of our cultural heritage and our museums. The libraries should be upgraded and modernised. Information technology should link Norway's museums, archives and libraries into a unified cultural realm.

Democracy
Cultural activity is an important part of democracy. Art and culture can be a force for change and new insight both for individuals and the society as a whole. Many voluntary organisations of great importance for democracy and for local cultural life have economic problems and a fluctuating number of new members. We want to help vitalise voluntary work. Voluntary organisations should be supported economically on the basis of the premises and activities specified by the organisations themselves. Involving these organisations in the local and national political decision-making processes is just as important as economic support. This can give them a greater opportunity to define the premises for discussions and resolutions and thereby increase their influence, which can later be a source of increased membership and activity. General education has a historical tradition, and the concept is associated with the emergence of broad, public information activities with a democratic foundation. In the coming years we also need training that is tied in with this tradition. General education should provide adults with the training they desire. The Labour Party wants to ensure that general education is given favourable operating conditions and to arrange matters so that the adult education organisations will receive economic funds with which to conduct their activities.

Co-operation
Our human and cultural resources are great, but there must be interaction and co-ordination in order to realise the potential that exists. There must be interaction between professionals and amateurs and among various cultural activities. The support of culture as a source of public involvement and participation occurs mainly at the local level. The grants from the state to various cultural activities in municipalities and counties are currently allocated as block grants. It is up to each individual municipality to decide what type of cultural activities it wants to give priority to on the basis of local needs. Our point of departure must be that culture should be an important perspective in all sectors. Both in kindergartens, education and organised after-school activities, health services and care of the elderly, and environmental and land use planning, cultural activities should help increase the quality of the services. Supporting culture can provide new growth impulses for local communities and for the nation as a whole. Public sector funding of literature, music, film and theatre creates core activities that in turn provide the basis for activities in broadcasting, the cinema, and the music and book industries. Culture also becomes increasingly important for tourism and makes a strong contribution to Norway's image abroad.

Culture Schools
Good music schools have been developed in a number of Norwegian municipalities. In some individual municipalities there are also art schools with a broader range of activities. We want to expand the activities in the music and art schools so that they evolve into culture schools without this occurring at the expense of the current music education. Besides music these schools would be able to offer training in theatre, dance, video production, painting and drawing. Parents and children who take advantage of these programmes should have a significant influence on them. In order to ensure expanded activity in culture schools throughout the whole country, we want to increase the special government grants that currently go to the music schools. Like the music schools, the culture schools must be funded by a combination of government grants, municipal grants and tuition from the users. The tuition must not be so high that it excludes anyone from the programme.

Choirs, Marching Bands and Music Groups
There are innumerable musicians throughout the whole country. Their voices and instruments can be heard in choirs, marching bands and various groups. Amateur musicians receive support from different public bodies. Nevertheless, many marching bands in particular have difficulty financing their activities. Choirs, marching bands and other groups should co-operate with the municipal music schools and draw on the valuable resources that can be found there. At the same time, the regulations for hiring instructors and directors must be as simple and easily comprehensible as possible. When it comes to activities for children and youth, we want to raise the minimum level of fees that must be reported and to make payments to the same person tax free within the same limit as that which applies for hired domestic help. The upper limits for VAT exemptions for sales under the direction of the above-mentioned groups and organisations should also be abolished. The subsidy arrangement to music workshops in rock, jazz and folk music should be continued, and measures that promote co-operation between amateurs and professionals should be strengthened.

Rock and Pop Music
Different forms of cultural expression have very different needs for public assistance. Rock and pop music are often defined as mass culture. These music forms have an enormous marketing potential. Norway, however, is a small country, and it is of vital importance to take care of and utilise this potential in a good way. We want to help arrange matters so that the breadth is maintained in this cultural area as well. Investments should therefore be made in a network of premises where as many musicians as possible will have access to practice rooms and training rooms and likewise have an opportunity to present their music. We want to continue the work that has already begun to establish a national network of arrangers for rock and pop music together with a permanent touring route. This network must be based on locally defined needs. The practical implementation must be organised in a collaboration between public and volunteer forces. We will continue to support this work by organising young musicians at the beginner and intermediate levels so that they become better able to look after their own interests.

Services to The Voluntary Organisations
The operation of cultural activities and organisations is based to a large extent on voluntary and communal efforts. This helps create contacts, solidarity and activity and is important to preserve. The public authorities can support the volunteer activities to a greater extent through administrative assistance related to tasks that seem unreasonably complicated and labour intensive, such as accounting, marketing of events and economic advice. It may be necessary to establish service positions to accomplish these objectives in order to ensure sufficient assistance. In many cases co-operation with the staff of recreational clubs will also serve this same purpose.

Cinemas and Film
Cinemas are one of the forms of culture that attract the biggest audience in the course of a year. The distinctively Norwegian way of organising the cinemas should be maintained in order to give as many people as possible an opportunity to see films at a cinema. Municipal responsibility for operating the cinemas helps to ensure that a broad selection of quality films are available to the entire population and to make the cinema an integral part of the municipal cultural programme. As a medium, film exerts a tremendous influence upon the viewer. It is therefore crucial that Norwegian quality products with a broad appeal are created. We want to maintain the support for Norwegian film and TV production at a high level. Children's and youth films should be given special priority. The same applies to the production of short films, which are a form of expression that gives filmmakers useful experience and know-how. In addition, we want to help children and youth develop a conscious attitude to moving pictures through better media instruction in the schools and an opportunity to experiment with the film medium in video workshops and culture schools.

Libraries and Books
The libraries are a much used cultural service and their main users are children. The libraries should function as information banks. Together with the comprehensive school they should be our main guarantor against social differences in the access to knowledge and information. We want to upgrade our libraries so that they can also play this kind of role in the new information society. The libraries' services must be free of charge for the users. The library programme in rural regions should be improved by an increase in the number of book buses. The purchasing arrangement for new Norwegian fiction and for children's and youth books should be ensured. This is an important contribution to the libraries' collections of books and ensures the authors a minimum income per book. The VAT exemption on books should be continued.

Language
Our language is the most important single factor for communication, concerted action and the maintenance of a common identity. Mastering language is also crucial for being able to take full advantage of our democratic rights. Our language policy should therefore be based on people's natural spoken language along with guidelines approved by the Storting. Our mother tongue is so important that it cannot be left to strong private actors to determine its development. Our dialects should be accepted, and the two forms of our written language should be guaranteed equivalent status. Norwegian and the Sami language must preserve the ability to independently develop new words. This does not necessarily oppose a flexible and unbiased attitude to enriching influences from other languages.

Artists
The society has a need for a free and varied production of art. The market alone will not be able to provide sufficient opportunities for work and income for artists. Through various measures the public sector must therefore help equalise the incomes of certain artists based on criteria of activity and quality. When the society uses artistic works and other forms of expression in various contexts, the creators have a legal claim to compensation. Grants and guaranteed income schemes are policy instruments for raising the level of quality and promoting innovation in art. It is necessary, however, to assess the organisation of the current schemes. The most important reform will be to increase the use of the artists.

Institutions - Theatre, Music, Dance and Pictorial Art
The tripartite division of the cultural institutions with respect to financial responsibility, control and management functions well and should therefore be continued. The operation of the national institutions should be completely funded by the state. Key cultural institutions, e.g. museums, orchestras, etc., are ensured through various combinations of state and county funding. Local institutions that are not included in the two other categories should still be able to receive state investment subsidies. The institutions are important cornerstones in our cultural policy infrastructure. They both create and present art and culture. We would therefore like to continue the state support at a high level. The support of dance and pictorial art should be increased. A larger and larger share of this art, however, is created, outside of the institutions. Public support must take this into consideration. At the same time it will be a big challenge to make the art that has been created available to a larger percentage of the population. The Norwegian State Foundation for the Nation-wide Promotion of Music, the National Touring Theatre and the National Touring Exhibition are important policy instruments in this presentation work. The national institutions should better co-ordinate their activities and also provide more help in presenting productions and performances from the permanent institutions to the rest of the country.

Architecture and Industrial Design
Our surroundings affect us every single day. A more focused policy on architecture and architectural environments can create well-being and an improved living situation for everyone. These should be important factors when municipal and local plans are drawn up. We want to contribute to good building practices through allocations and loan schemes in the Norwegian National Housing Bank and by following up the government funding of aesthetic quality in public settings. In all of its construction projects the government should set a good example. We want to work for good quality in the aesthetic design of our architectural surroundings and in the design of signs, furniture and advertisements, among other things. Norwegian business and industry should also provide more support in these areas in order to improve their competitiveness and the image of Norwegian quality.

Protection of Our Cultural Heritage
Listed housing and historical sites are an important part of people's common heritage. They provide important information, among other things about the relationship between people and nature down through the ages. Listed housing may also have considerable utility value as dwellings and commercial property. Efficiency improvement and the internationalisation of production and communications give rise to increased construction in transport and communications. This also allows for other uses of buildings, facilities and space and greater cultural variety. This means that efforts must be stepped up considerably in order to ensure a sustainable administration of listed housing and historical sites. Cultural heritage must be given greater emphasis in the use of space and construction measures. The preservation and administration of cultural heritage must be given greater social, geographical and ethnic scope and a longer time horizon. In the coming years we would especially like to strengthen the efforts to ensure the protection, repair and use of cultural relics associated with coastal culture, working class culture and industrial activities. The subsidies to the owners of buildings and facilities that are protected or worth protecting should be increased so that extra expenses for operation and maintenance are compensated. By preserving and learning from the past, we can help ensure quality, durability and the sustainable use of natural resources. Through increased emphasis on research and development work the protection of our cultural heritage should be activated as a resource for employment and sustainable production and consumption patterns. State and other public sector owners should set good examples here, both through the construction of new buildings and in the management of the existing stock of facilities and buildings.

Museums
Museums are important social institutions. They create and present information and historical experiences, encourage understanding and a sense of wonder and induce people to ask questions. There should be a close collaboration between museums and research circles. Emphasis must be put on conveying information about what the museums can offer so that more people can avail themselves of it. The responsibility for the country's museums should continue to be divided between the state, the counties and the municipalities. In the coming years we will focus especially on the collection of material and the establishment of exhibitions and museums associated with the industrial revolution and the emergence of the labour movement in this century.


Sports for Everyone

The Labour Party wants to arrange matters to encourage the whole range of sports by supporting the maintenance of sports facilities and improving the athletic clubs' economic conditions.
Local sports work lives or dies on the efforts of volunteers. Sports leaders must often devote a lot of time and effort to ensure the associations' finances through collections, lotteries and other measures. In order to pay for and support this effort, the Labour Party wants to raise the ceiling for VAT exemptions and duty-free expenditures for the whole range of sports.

The Sports Associations
The large number of clubs and associations are the backbone of the sports milieu in Norway. Many volunteer leaders and coaches spend much of their free time making the clubs good meeting places where fellowship can be found in the local communities. It is important that the sports organisations control their use of resources and administration at the district and national levels so that the dominant objective becomes the strengthening of local sporting life. For their part, the authorities must ensure that the framework conditions and regulations provide suitable operating conditions for the associations. The rules for duties and taxation should be formulated in such a way that they are simple and practical and do not make it too complicated and demanding to be a sports leader in one's leisure time. In order to give the clubs better opportunities to develop sound economies, the ceiling for VAT exemptions on sales under the auspices of the sports associations should be raised. The minimum fee that has to be reported should likewise be increased and payments to the same person should be duty-free within the same limit that applies for hired domestic help.

Sports Facilities
The public sector's most important task in relation to sports is to see that suitable sports facilities are built and operated throughout the country. After many years of investments in the construction of new facilities, it is necessary to put greater emphasis on maintenance and the renovation of facilities. In order to receive support for new facilities, it must always be a condition that we have the capacity and resources to take good care of those that have already been built. In order to better achieve the goal of sports for everyone, facilities adapted for the elderly, the handicapped, the mentally handicapped, and others who need special arrangements should be given special priority. In new types of sports in which immigrant groups are especially active, there is also a great need for new facilities. When planning cultural and recreational centres, school buildings and other local facilities the need for sports facilities should also be kept in mind. If sports facilities are located together with municipal recreational programmes, it affords better opportunities for employed recreational workers to help with the administration of and other arrangements for sports.

Children's Development
A large number of children and youth have sports as their main interest in leisure time. Sports achievements can have a favourable effect on well-being, personal development, self-image and recognition from others. Sports can play an important role in integration efforts. They can help break down barriers between groups. The experience and teamwork that games and sports provide create a sense closeness and dependence on one another. The clubs and coaches have a responsibility to provide the right amount of challenge and avoid putting too much pressure on the participants when it comes to their amount of training and level of achievements. Otherwise, child sports can become too specialised and unenjoyable and have unfortunate consequences for children's sense of fellowship and physical and mental health. The school system and sports should co-operate broadly on a training programme linked with organised after-school activities, organised activities during school holidays, sports schools, sports days with school competitions, etc. In order to increase the teams' capabilities of undertaking these tasks and working seriously and bindingly with children and youth, funds for employment and jobs created in labour market schemes should be used to a greater extent in the long-term backing of the sports associations.

Sports and Health
Sports have great importance as a health-promoting factor. Exercise and training in sensible amounts contribute to healthiness and well-being for many people of all ages. To be in good physical condition provides greater resistance to disease among both young and old and increases well-being and self-esteem. At the same time, however, the pressure to excel in sports can create new health problems among the participants. Many cases of eating disorders begin with slimming treatments intended to improve performance in connection with sports ambitions. Teachers and coaches can prevent this by familiarising themselves with the causes and symptoms of these complaints and disseminating information about them. Top level sports are especially plagued with performance enhancing drug problems, repetitive strain injuries and other kinds of injuries. Despite joint international efforts to prevent the use of performance enhancing drugs with inspections and information about their side effects, the problem is still a big one. This is related to the considerable economic powers and interests that are involved. In order for the society to improve its sanctions against these drugs, and to make sure that the seriousness of using them is understood, the acquisition, possession and use of performance enhancing drugs should be criminalised in Norwegian law.


Outdoor Recreation
and The Natural Heritage

The Labour Party wants to give everyone better opportunities for outdoor recreation without overtaxing our natural resources or damaging the environment.
The right of the general public to wander freely in outlying forests and fields should be bolstered. Clear legal authority should be granted to make arrangements for the purpose of outdoor recreation on privately owned outlying forests and fields and to require the public sale of hunting and fishing licenses for this reason. A government warding service should be developed to improve the enforcement of the environmental protection legislation.

The Rights of The General Public
For a large part of the population outdoor recreation is an important part of their holidays, exercise habits, experiences, participation in sports, and general recreation. A further development of this trend requires that the general public's rights be maintained and bolstered by increasing the individual's opportunities for varied outdoor experiences. A weakness of the current legislation is that it does not provide enough authority to determine the arrangements for the purposes of wandering on privately owned outlying forests and fields. Clear legal authority should therefore be granted for the protection of outdoor recreation areas for these reasons when it is important for outdoor recreation. This will provide greater opportunities for making outlying forests and fields more accessible to the population. This also entails that owners should not be able to initiate measures that significantly alter the natural environment and deteriorate the quality of outdoor recreation areas. Questions of liability must be decided in keeping with the relevant regulations currently in effect in the Nature Conservation Act. Ensuring the rights of the general public should also be an important consideration when evaluating whether to allow the introduction of special fees for trespassing on foot on privately owned outlying forests and fields. There is a need for a clarification of the national policy on this matter by means of laws and regulations so that different practices do not evolve from one area to another. It would strongly conflict with the fundamental values on which our outdoor recreation is based if fees were charged for anything other than very special purposes, such as camping sites and private roads.

Hunting and Fishing
Nature's cycles and equilibrium are promoted when a sustainable harvesting of renewable game and fishing resources is practised. For many people this provides outdoor experiences and challenges as well as an augmented supply of food and an additional source of income, but since only a limited proportion of the rights for hunting and salmon and inland fishing are available for anyone to purchase, these opportunities are very unevenly distributed at present. In order to better organise for the general public's use of natural resources, it should be possible to require owners to sell hunting and fishing licenses to the public within a framework of recommended price specifications. If this kind of legal authority is introduced, it will also become easier to achieve amicable arrangements in other ways. The availability of hunting licenses ought to be sufficient to allow those who take part in training courses for hunters and who take the huntsman's examination to have an opportunity to go hunting.

Protection and Access
There should be outdoor recreation areas within walking distance of homes. This requires pedestrian footpaths that connect residential areas with urban forests and fields, cultural landscapes, shoreline areas and green areas. Some routes should be prepared in such a way that the handicapped and elderly persons with limited mobility will also have access to nature. Especially when natural areas are in the vicinity of cities and urban areas, local authorities should implement measures against littering and unwarrantable uses of those areas, and they should develop a main network of paths, lighted trails, bathing areas, signposts, etc. For educational purposes and general public education, more nature information centres should be developed, and special information about nature should be provided on trails and at specific sites. Areas that need this kind of special preparation will usually have to be protected for outdoor recreation through purchase or an agreement allowing permanent right of usage in the area, or perhaps by protecting the area for outdoor recreation. In mountain areas, where the opportunities to walk in nearly unspoiled natural scenery are the primary attraction, the big natural areas should be protected against encroachment, and the network of hiking trails, ski trails and cabins should be further developed in keeping with this aim. In order to further develop the general public's right of access along the coast, more agreements must be reached regarding parks in the skerries and administrative arrangements for much-used coastal areas. Especially on stretches that have much small boat traffic at certain times of the year, there is a need for more service measures, more information and better warding in order to prevent unwarrantable impacts on the environment. An increasing number of recreational boats results in more accidents, a greater impact on the environment and less pleasant conditions. Sea travel should be pleasant and safe, and hence requirements must be specified for boats and boatmen. We want to introduce restrictions on driving under the influence at sea and likewise training in skippering a boat for the owners of larger recreational boats.

Species Diversity and The Warding Service
Nature's production capacity and diversity should be preserved. Plant and animal species must be managed in such a way that they can live and evolve under natural conditions and in hardy populations. There is no time to waste in preserving forested wilderness for posterity, and a strategy must be devised to develop greater protection of the productive coniferous forest area. The use of legislation and certification schemes will contribute to the sustainable operation of the forest that has not been protected. Hardy populations of large predators and other threatened species must be safeguarded by means of special protective measures. The effort to preserve the natural heritage and prevent pollution and environmental crime should be stepped up by developing a government warding service, which will especially handle tasks of a national nature, such as the preservation of biological diversity and the warding of protected areas, national parks and special outdoor recreation areas. The local warding arrangements in the municipalities and counties should be further developed in co-operation with the new government warding authorities. Preserving nature also entails that everyone must behave considerately and in an environment-friendly manner when availing themselves of nature's bounty and that these attitudes must be passed on to new generations. Volunteer organisations, such as the Norwegian Mountain Touring Association, the scouting movement, the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature, sports associations and the Norwegian Association for Hunters and Anglers, play an important role here. Moreover, kindergartens, outdoor pursuits centres that focus on the environment, organised activities during school holidays, and the primary and lower secondary schools should actively provide information about outdoor recreation and the natural heritage.


The National Church

The Labour Party wants to give the Church of Norway good working conditions for performing its tasks as a broad-based and unifying state and national church.
By evolving as a meeting place and rallying point in the local communities
the church can lay the foundation for increased participation and involvement. This requires an open and inclusive attitude and conduct towards all segments of the population.

Rallying Point
Ecclesiastical values and traditions create common bases for agreement among the generations and are an important part of our cultural heritage. A thousand-year-old Christian cultural influence has left its mark on rituals, standards, festivals, married life and ways of thinking in the Norwegian society. The great participation in the church's ceremonies and marking of events in the life of the individual shows how important it remains as a unifying national church. It is this broad area of impact in the population that creates the basis for the state church arrangement. It can also be preserved for posterity through open and accommodating forms of work. By putting emphasis on Christian values such as love of one's neighbour, equality and tolerance the church can consolidate its position as a rallying point in a modern, multi-religious, diverse society.

Equal Status
All people must feel equally welcome and know that the state church treats them as equals. The church needs the intimacy and breadth of experience that reflect the whole population's problems and experiences. Sex discrimination conflicts with the Christian teachings of love of one's neighbour and justice. In principle the church's administrative and service jobs are open to both genders, but the actual opportunities available to women for jobs in the church that they want on the basis of their faith, education and conviction are limited. The Labour Party thinks it is important for the work of the church that both genders are represented in posts as parsons, teachers and deacons. Matters should also be arranged so that women will have the same chances as men to advance to higher positions as rectors, deans and bishops. Thus, we want to amend the Act on Equal Status so that it no longer grants exemptions to appointments in the Church of Norway. The church must not be allowed to discriminate against homosexuals when hiring and providing services.

Religious Communities
Religious freedom entitles all churches and religious groups to freely conduct their activities on the basis of their own values and perception of themselves. The Church of Norway's role as a state church does not tamper with this freedom. The state must exercise its administrative functions while respecting the church's right to act as an independent religious community. On the basis of its fundamental values and functions it is natural that the church get involved in providing guidance and influencing public opinion on ethical, religious and other matters. This must be done without emphasising its role as a state church. With its dominant influence the church must promote its opinions in such a way that it does not make it difficult for others to practice their religion or their philosophy of life.

Local Churches
The regular church-going parishioners constitute a limited percentage of the population. It is of even greater importance that the church develop its network of contacts by working actively in the local community. The elections of the parochial church councils should be arranged in such a way that participation can be greater. More co-ordination should be developed between the church and the local authorities regarding measures for the elderly, children and youth, and other groups. This can promote renewal and variation in the church's work and create better measures for people seeking help and support or a programme of activities. The prevention of the desecration, deterioration and vandalism of churches and cemeteries is an important joint task for congregations, local police and local authorities.