Co-determination
Statement of Principles and Action
Programme
The Norwegian Labour party
Work for everyone
| Full employment is the primary
goal of the Labour Party's economic policy. It provides
security and growth for the individual and is a crucial
condition for increased creation of wealth and welfare.
Thus, all of the parties in the society have a common int erest in creating more jobs. This is the basis for the solidarity alternative, which involves a binding agreement among the employers, the government and the employees to work together. It requires that all of these parties make full employment their top p riority, and that none of them selfishly help themselves to an unreasonable share of the profits and earnings on the basis of narrow self-interest. If the effort to achieve work for everyone is to be followed up and intensified, a stable cost level and binding co-operation on income policy will be required. In periods of economic recovery there will be big opportunities for this, but also an increasing danger that the will to achieve an equitable wage policy for the good of the whole society will be diminished. It is even more important that the benefits that are achieved through the solidarity alternative, such as more jobs, increased real wages and an economy that is healthy enough to permit new welfare reforms, be taken care of and developed further. The Labour Party would therefore like to continue to develop the solidarity alternative. This should constantly be based on the principle of actively employing more welfare recipients, the use of employment measures, and solidarity in wage policy, but it should also include some new elements. In order to promote knowledge and research, it is especially important to prevent unemployment and create a future-oriented development. The right to post-school training and further education should be an important new element in the solidarity alternative. It must be implemented through contributions from employers, the trade union movement and the government. Increased funding of research and innovation should be developed through interactions between public authorities and private companies and more venture capital should be provided in order to make use of the development and research results. The society should also use more of the public savings to support the creation of wealth and strengthen the long-term, competent ownership of Norwegian business and industry. It is necessary to have a smooth-running public sector in order to achieve full employment. Good public services and an efficient infrastructure are necessary conditions for developing a competitive economy and new jobs. At the same time the public sector itself accounts for a large share of the created wealth and increased employment. In the public sector the growth in the number of jobs must come in the health and welfare sector, the education sector and in environmental protection and cultural activities. Better public services for the population and the business community are also an important feature of the solidarity alternative. In order to do this, it will be necessary to limit the expenditures on direct cash transfers and improve the resource utilisation in the public sector. New jobs and increased creation of wealth will depend to a greater and greater extent on prices, interest rates, wage formation, currency exchange rates and the countries' competitive strength in a broad sense. In order to counteract the damaging effects of these developments, a global mixed economy that establishes clear and equal terms for competition is needed. Unhealthy speculation and instability can be reduced through joint international solutions and a greater amount of international co-determination to resolve trade, financial and foreign exchange matters. The countries should co-operate to a greater extent in regulating the global market place with social and ecological clauses and other measures that can prevent trade wars, periods of recession, unemployment and uncertainty. An Egalitarian Economy The Labour Party wants to create stable and sustainable economic parameters for the long-term creation of wealth and full employment. In order to guarantee the welfare society's future, it is necessary to use profits during economic recoveries to prevent recessions and increase the society's savings and long-term investments. Unemployment should be countered with a further development and improvement of the solidarity alternative and the Norwegian mixed economy. The Solidarity Alternative When incomes and profits increase, the resulting funds should be used to prevent recessions and support the efforts to create work for everyone. The solidarity alternative resulted in low inflation and increased employment during the first half of the nineties. This should be developed into permanent, binding co-operative action in many fields among the employers, the government and the employees. A further development of the solidarity alternative should be aimed to a greater extent at the lack of accordance between the qualifications of the unemployed and the job opportunities available to them and at the long-term challenges related to the development of jobs and the creation of wealth in mainland Norway. These tasks require broader joint efforts such as: a reform for post-school training and further education, increased funding of research and development in companies, better opportunities for financing entrepreneurial activities and innovation, environmental funds to support the use of renewable energy sources and environmental technology, government involvement to promote more long-term ownership in the business community, a stable cost level and currency exchange rate level, public sector budgets that counteract recessions and wage pressures, and stronger efforts to help groups that have special problems in the labour market. This can only succeed if the basic tenets of the solidarity alternative, such as full employment, an equitable wage policy and support of labour market measures are adhered to by all of the parties. A Lasting Recovery A balanced, long-term, economic recovery creates more jobs on a permanent basis than a rapid, short-term boom. The foundation for stable growth in the market economy can best be laid when the economy is recovering. If the growth becomes too rapid and unbalanced and leads to an increased cost level and less competitive strength, it can lead rapidly to a serious downturn in the creation of wealth and employment. In today's international economy there are no easy shortcuts to correct this kind of recession. Therefore, it is particularly necessary to use the room to manoeuvre afforded by an economic recovery to actively prevent a recession by cooling off inflationary trends and improving cost efficiency throughout the entire society. A tight-reined, long-term public budget policy with emphasis on savings and investments in the creation of wealth and employment is necessary in order to create a stable development in demand and production. By responsibly and soberly managing the economy when revenues increase, the government can acquire some freedom of action and policy instruments for better counteracting recessions and creating confidence in the Norwegian mixed economy's functionality. Savings It is everyone's responsibility to see that public and private consumption and levels of expenditure do not exceed the level that can be sustained. A further development of the solidarity alternative presumes solidarity with future working populations as well. A generational audit that aims at equalising the economic burden on the present and future economically active generations requires that the overall level of savings in the society must be considerably higher in the coming years. The dependence on petroleum revenues indicates that the future-oriented use of profits for innovation in mainland Norway and deposits in the Government Petroleum Fund must increase. Individual savings should also be encouraged in priority areas such as savings for new homes for senior citizens who need housing that is better adapted to meet their needs. If the wage, price and cost spiral is triggered, there will be no room for this. All parties must take their share of the responsibility to ensure that the savings are brought up to a sufficient level. A large share of the society's and companies' profits must be deposited in future-oriented investments that create jobs in both the private and public sectors. Efforts to Curtail Long-term Unemployment When the creation of wealth and employment increase, we must ensure that as many of the unemployed as possible can quickly get back into ordinary jobs. It is crucial to avoid high structural unemployment or mismatches between the demand for labour and the qualifications and accessibility of the unemployed. The training should be tied more to particular workplaces through temporary training positions and buddy systems. This increases the opportunities for permanent employment and diminishes reservations about employing the long-term unemployed. For groups that have special problems in the labour market, the duration of the individual employment measures may have to be more flexible. This especially applies to older employees and adult immigrants who have problems finding a job after a long period of unemployment. Occupationally handicapped persons should be rehabilitated under secure working conditions and made capable of taking part in normal working life. All unemployed youth up to age twenty five and everyone who reaches the end of his period of eligibility for unemployment compensation should be offered employment measures and training. The same should apply to all refugees and persons who come to Norway to be reunited with their families. This requires that the Labour Market Administration further expands its efforts to help these groups. It must co-operate actively with the municipalities to provide suitable measures and training. To deal with mismatches in the labour market and prevent structural unemployment, municipal contingency plans to reduce unemployment and yearly employment budgets with analyses of the level of structural unemployment should be prepared. Pay Equity The increased participation of women in the labour force is of great importance for the creation of wealth and the improvement of the general welfare in Norway. It makes women economically independent, which is the primary factor promoting equal status. Women are now in the majority among those who take a higher education. The proportion of women in management jobs is also increasing in the public sector. In the private sector, however, there is not yet any corresponding positive trend. A great number of women still work in vocations and sectors with low wage levels. Thus, the requirement of equal pay must be strongly linked to requirements that the pay of low-wage groups must be increased. Job evaluations that compare vocations in different professions can help clarify the basis for this requirement. Furthermore, a general increase in the pay of low-wage groups in various sectors and vocations must primarily occur through agreements among the parties in working life. In addition, we want to go through the legislation and welfare arrangements so as to help reduce the differences in men's and women's working life. The percentage of women in scientific positions at the universities and colleges remains low. An increase in this percentage would be inherently of value, for it would enable both sexes to fully realise their talents in education and research. In addition, those in these positions often serve as role models for young people. Better kindergarten services will be an important policy instrument, and the right to advertise positions that are only available to the under-represented sex should be exercised more often. A survey should be made to determine whether systematic differences in women's and men's careers are due to the division of responsibility for child care or the fact that companies do not make sufficient arrangements for both sexes in the way they organise the work. The welfare arrangements should nonetheless be organised so that men are given greater incentives to take responsibility for providing care, among other things by giving working fathers the independent right to maternity benefits during child-care leave. Integration of Homosexuals Persons who are openly gay are confronted with a number of obstacles that make it difficult to succeed in the labour market, the housing market, the educational system, the military, the political arena and other areas of society. The Labour Party wants to try to clarify the circumstances and conditions that gay men and women face in their everyday lives and to correct any disparities that may exist. Long-term Ownership The Labour Party wants to help increase the number of long-term, responsible owners in the Norwegian business community. There is a need for more stable ownership and access to capital, which would afford a longer and broader horizon for the creation of wealth than short-term speculation does. The government should develop its ownership strategies so that the overall level of savings in the society can have positive effects on the business community and the creation of jobs. Stable owners Much of the business community's access to capital comes from short-term investors because quick profits are their main goal. If there are too many of these short-term investments, it has a negative effect on employment and the creation of wealth. Stable, demanding, responsible owners are best able to ensure financial soundness, promote new businesses, and ensure the future-oriented development of existing companies. There is a need for more active, long-term investors who have a special interest in production and the creation of jobs. There should still be arrangements that promote the employees' purchases of shares in their own companies. The regulations governing these arrangements should be considered in light of the desire to encourage long-term ownership. Foreign capital can also promote stability and long-term thinking, while also providing access to valuable expertise and new markets; but if the most profitable Norwegian companies become the object of international take-overs and mergers, and more main offices are moved abroad, this will diminish the possibilities of creating a group of stable, active, competent Norwegian owners. It is in the interest of society at large that the authorities help prevent this kind of development because it can undermine our domestic creation of value and employment. In this context Norway's two biggest commercial banks are important both as stable, competent sources of finance and as potential objects of take-overs. The government should therefore maintain a large enough shareholding in these banks to ensure long-term national ownership. Government Ownership Strategies In order to guarantee our welfare arrangements in the future, a large amount of public savings and accumulation of assets are required. This will mainly be accomplished through the National Insurance Fund, the Government Petroleum Fund, and profits from state-owned companies, but public measures such as municipal pension funds also have major funds and reserves at their disposal. The growing public assets provide an opportunity to strengthen long-term, competent ownership of Norwegian business and industry. In consultation with the trade unions and companies the government should develop ownership strategies for achieving this objective. This means that the authorities should not unilaterally turn over the management of the public assets to others, for this might greatly increase the amount of passive, short-term investment in the Norwegian economy. Instead more circles of competent, public administrators with different tasks and areas of interest should be established, such as those currently in existence in the National Insurance Fund, the Government Bank Investment Fund, and the Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund's Equity Division. These must be company formations that each do not become too large, that operate independently of each other, and that are given clear overall management objectives and guidelines by elected bodies. Pension and Social Security Funds Pension funds are managed by the National Insurance Fund, the municipal pension funds and the insurance companies. These have a long time horizon and are therefore well-suited for long-term, responsible investments in shares. During periods of economic recovery it is natural and important for pension and social security funds to grow. This can result in more stable, institutional investors in the Norwegian capital market, but the investments are limited by the rules stating that insurance companies can own no more than fifteen percent of other companies and that no more than twenty percent of the capital in the National Insurance Fund can be invested in shares. Given the importance of the supply of long-term capital to the Norwegian economy and based on experiences with the return and security derived over a period of time from investments in shares, the limitations on investments of pension and social security funds should be re-evaluated. As far as the municipal pension funds are concerned, separate management principles must be developed in order to ensure competent management and investment of the high level of reserves that are required. Financing of Innovation In periods with increasing profits it is particularly important to give priority to innovation and the establishment of new businesses. In this way both the public and private sectors can lay the foundations for further development and prevent recessions, but companies, inventors and others may have difficulty financing their innovation activities, especially when these are of a long-term nature. There are few sources of private innovation or venture financing in Norway, partly because a considerable amount of risk is associated with participation in so-called venture funds. It has a limiting effect on innovation that most of the existing sources of funds are public measures. It should therefore be studied more closely how matters can best be arranged for the establishment of a private innovation fund, given the risks that are involved. The public measures to promote innovation should also be improved. The budget constraints and the guidelines for the Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund, and especially its Equity and Regional Development Divisions, should help promote this objective. The direct government contributions to the former Venturefondet (an investment fund that invested in venture capital funds) should also be followed up with similar measures in order to improve the sources of finance for small and intermediate firms that have a potential for innovation, growth and profitability. An Equitable Tax System The Labour Party wants to have a tax system that provides stable revenues for general welfare services and promotes employment, an equitable distribution of incomes and an improved environment. The main purpose of taxation is to finance the welfare arrangements and the security and equalisation of incomes that they afford. This must be combined with considerations associated with the creation of wealth and employment so that the foundation for the welfare is not weakened. The formulation of the system of taxes and duties should be based on stability, equal status, taxation according to tax-paying ability, job creation, efficient tax control and the principle that the polluter must pay. Stability The formulation of the tax system is of great importance for the efficiency in the economy and the possibilities of creating jobs and providing welfare. It should be based on general principles that must remain unchanged over a period of time so that we avoid uncertainty, speculation, a reluctance to invest, and insecurity about the financing of the welfare state. Broad support of a stable tax system must be an important aspect of an expanded solidarity alternative. Changes in the system should involve adaptations and improvements relative to the main principles. They must not come frequently and separately, given the insecurity this arouses in the private and public sectors of the economy. Major changes in general principles and tax reforms should be seen in context. All individual initiatives should be handled within a comprehensive framework so as to avoid a gradual nullification of the overall intentions of the comprehensive tax reform of 1992 through individual resolutions from year to year. Taxation According to Tax-paying Ability The population must perceive the taxation as equitable and predictable and know that everyone contributes to the common good according to his or her tax-paying ability. This is accomplished through graduated income taxes, tax-free allowances, surtaxes on higher incomes and an extra tax bracket on net assets above a certain level. This surtax should be an extra re-distribute taxation on those who have high incomes. The complete formulation of the surtax, and especially the lower limits for how much one can earn before it phases in, must be regulated in keeping with this principle. Taxpayers with high net worth and incomes who pay little or no tax should be confronted with several measures that will ensure that they contribute their fair share to the common good. The principle of taxation according to tax-paying ability should also apply more often to the taxation of residences and holiday homes. Creating More Jobs In order to ensure the financing of the general public services, the tax system should promote increased creation of wealth and good socio-economic resource utilisation. This entails that it must promote full employment and not attract capital and assets away from investments in jobs. Better conditions for innovation funds and risk profiles and the funding of research and development will encourage a greater reinvestment of generated wealth in private companies. Furthermore, the reorganisation of production in response to green taxes and duties could provide double gains, i.e. both a better environment and more jobs, e.g. in recycling and the use of renewable energy sources. In the sectors of the Norwegian economy that are vulnerable to competition, this requires that there be no increase in the total tax level relative to the trend in competing countries. Any relaxation of the employers' National Insurance contributions should preferably be arranged with the aim of giving the companies more favourable terms for creating permanent jobs for unemployed youth, the long-term unemployed and other groups with special difficulties in the labour market. The Polluter Must Pay Market forces do not necessarily take environmental costs into consideration. They must be corrected with the principle that the polluter must pay. This makes greener taxes and duties an important policy instrument in environmental policy. A common, co-ordinated global tax on sources of emissions of carbon dioxide is needed in order to ensure that everyone should take their share of the responsibility. In this way the real environmental costs of different forms of energy will be more clearly expressed. Before global taxes or the co-ordinated use of CO2 taxes in the Nordic countries and Europe can be implemented, the tax that is currently in effect in Norway should be scaled according to the carbon content and cover a larger range of emissions. New policy instruments must likewise be initiated in order to reduce the emissions of sulphur and nitrogen dioxide. Based on our national objectives, attempts should be made to introduce a domestic system for transferable SO2 quotas, which should give rise to emission reductions that are as cost-effective as possible. In order to promote this transition an environmental fund must be established, to which businesses can apply for support for measures that will eliminate or reduce pollution. This should be an important tool for inducing firms to enter into binding, cost-effective agreements relating to the reduction of emissions and a transition to renewable energy sources. A Level Playing Field In order to promote a good general resource utilisation, the tax system should prevent persons and companies from mainly basing their economic transactions on tax considerations. The best protection against this will be to practice the principle of a level playing field for all types of taxes and duties. This must be weighed against other important principles in the tax system, but in many fields, it should be the basis for making improvements. This will particularly pertain to conditions relating to the increasing international mobility in an open economy. Norwegian owners should be taxed for their share of profits from foreign investments at a rate equivalent to the taxation of investment income in Norway. They must be guaranteed against double taxation through settlements and tax agreements with the relevant countries. In our open economy, some of the Norwegian economic rent or earnings from the use of natural resources can also be transferred out of the country by foreign owners without direct taxation. This increases the need to develop approximate neutrality in the taxation of the economic rent so that other resources besides hydropower, oil and natural gas are included. A level playing field also entails that a general VAT should be introduced on services, though various environmental and employment concerns necessitate a number of exceptions and differentiations. Family allowances can be regarded as a kind of equal negative taxation from the state. They should be continued as a general, non-means-tested arrangement. Effective Tax Control The significant amount of tax evasion that has been discovered indicates that tax control efforts should be intensified. The extensive internationalisation of the economy in particular will confront the tax authorities with more and more demanding challenges. An intensified, effective campaign to curtail international tax evasion must be developed in consultation with the authorities in other countries and the various bodies that manage money flows. Banks and financial institutions should have investigation and reporting obligations whenever there is any suspicion that a monetary transaction has been associated with a criminal act. Co-operation on parallel controls on all the constituents of large groups should make it easier to discover discrepancies that conflict with the individual country's tax laws. Concentrated campaigns with tax audits and other measures must be initiated against industries where the danger of evasions and undeclared work is thought to be great. All businesses that sell goods and services to the public must submit chief municipal treasurer's attestations, which show that their tax affairs are in order. They should also commit themselves to follow the same rules for freedom of access to their accounts that apply to the public sector. Voluntary approval routines should be developed for other companies that want to show that they are reputable, well-managed and have their tax affairs in order. When illegal acts are discovered and reported, the police service and judicial system must be able to prepare cases and set them down for trial within reasonable deadlines so that evasions can be effectively followed up and penalised. Research and Development The Labour Party wants to promote research and development in order to increase employment and the development of knowledge in the society. Greater and more long-term funding of research is needed if Norway is become one of the leading nations in the acquisition of knowledge and the provision of welfare. In all fields a high level of competence will be crucial for the possibilities of creating welfare and good jobs. Industrially-oriented Research The industries that are best at developing new systems and making use of new technology are also those that have the best chance of maintaining and increasing employment. This is the case regardless of how knowledge-intensive or raw material-based the various industries are. The total funding of research and development in Norwegian companies must be increased considerably in order to approach the level of the countries with which we ought to compare ourselves. Co-operation among the business community, the authorities and the trade union movement is necessary in order to achieve this kind of improvement. Thus, the further-developed solidarity alternative should make preparations for an increase in research and development activity and give greater priority to innovation. In addition to helping to establish innovation funds, the government can also help by repealing the investment tax on research buildings and equipment as has already been done for production facilities. For their part the companies and trade unions should see that more earnings are used to protect and strengthen jobs through the funding of research, the acquisition of knowledge and product development. Environmental Technology New environmental technology can reduce emissions and pollution and resolve challenges associated with resource consumption and nature's tolerance limits, but a lack of financing and questions about costs can prevent these systems and inventions from being developed and launched to a sufficient extent. In this case an increased use of public research and development contracts will provide greater opportunities for guaranteeing the security and quality of these projects, and will allow more people to get involved. A greater share of the government research funds should be allocated for the development of environmental technology, renewable energy sources and resource-friendly production and consumption. Special national research programmes should be started to achieve these objectives. In the fields of aquaculture and marine industries Norway has especially good chances of assuming a leading role in the research concerning a sustainable utilisation of renewable resources, which can increase the opportunities for the long-term creation of wealth and employment in this field. Global Expansion of Knowledge It is necessary and useful to solve more and more expensive and resource-intensive research tasks in international collaboration. An open and binding international research collaboration should evolve in as many areas as possible. This can help build trust and give everyone access to more knowledge and learning. The new information technology creates new forms of daily contact and co-operation among researchers in different countries. Full Norwegian participation in the European Union's framework research programmes gives Norwegian companies and research circles many advantages and opportunities that should be better utilised. Norway should take particular responsibility for increasing the global wealth of knowledge in areas such as marine research and polar research. The developing countries and small nations with limited resources are especially dependent on co-operation with regard to the global expansion of knowledge in order to keep from falling behind. In the coming years the need for international joint research projects will increase in areas such as biotechnology and gene technology, nature's tolerance limits, renewable energy sources and the use of information technology. The Use of Research Results The demand for high quality is fundamental and should be crucial to all decisions to provide support and financing. An evaluation of documented research results in relation to measurable objectives should be given greater weight in both national and international contexts. The extent to which research leads to innovation that is employed by the business community and the society depends on many different factors. Since much research in Norway takes place in separate institutes, universities and colleges, it is particularly necessary to develop a good collaboration with the users and convey active information about the research results. Especially when small Norwegian firms in important areas spend little money on research and competence building, it may be due to weaknesses in this collaboration. Relevant measures for correcting this drawback might be to give the users seats on the steering committees of the public research programmes and to develop research networks for small and intermediate firms. A special effort should be made to increase the research and development activity in Northern Norwegian firms with the main emphasis on competence-building and product development. The Research Council of Norway, which has overall responsibility for ensuring quality and relevance in Norwegian research, must give top priority to testing and evaluation in collaboration with the users. The research council must put emphasis on the transfer and dissemination of research results to small and intermediate firms. The public sector, and particularly the health and social welfare sector, is facing big challenges. New organisational solutions and the effective use of the society's funds will play an important role. In connection with this it will be necessary to come up with new knowledge and new solutions. Applied social research can provide a basis for devising solutions that ensure effective use of the society's funds. Research's Intrinsic Value Research arises from people's basic need to test their abilities and increase their knowledge and understanding. The development of new insights and knowledge is a key factor in every modern society and should be far more than just a tool for product development. Research can make life richer and easier for everyone and bring new experiences, dimensions and possibilities to our existence. It has an intrinsic value that does not conflict with its utilitarian value. Without long-term, independent basic research, the necessary broad foundation of knowledge for new innovations and discoveries would dry up, but basic research is not well-served by cloistering itself in an ivory tower with no concern for information needs and economic demand. It needs systematic evaluations in relation to the corresponding international level of competence. Resources should be concentrated where the opportunities and conditions are most favourable for further expansion of the common store of knowledge. Post-school Training and Further Education for Employees The Labour Party wants to give each individual employee increased opportunities for further education while giving the society as a whole a greater capability of dealing with technological and other new innovations. The individual employee should have a right to an educational leave in order to take further education. An education fund financed through a three-way collaboration between employers, employees and the government should assist with basic living expenses during this education. The extent of this reform will depend on all of the parties' willingness to give priority to post-school training and further education above other benefits. This reform will be an important aspect of the further development of the solidarity alternative. In order for knowledge acquired outside of the education system to be given consideration in further work and education, a public system for the documentation and approval of relevant vocational experience must be established. The Right to Educational Leave for Everyone The Labour Party wants to introduce a statutory right to educational leave for the individual employee. A right to leave should afford greater opportunities for realising personal ambitions for further education. This can be education directly related to the individual's present job, but it can also be education that helps put the employee on a new career path. Leave should only be granted for the amount of time that is necessary in order to complete the desired training. An employee should have the right to take leave either full time or for part of the working day. This right should only pertain to participation in organised educational programmes that provide relevant expertise for a vocation. Emphasis must be put on providing good guidance to all employees about the opportunities that this scheme offers to each individual. An Education Fund with Tripartite Financing It is necessary to provide support for living expenses during all or part of the educational period if the possibility of taking educational leave is to become a reality. In connection with wage settlements, money can be deposited in an education fund, to which the government will also contribute. Each individual employee will earn rights to make withdrawals from the fund on a yearly basis. The amount that can be withdrawn will be determined by the wage settlements, in which the size of the fund is negotiated. The scope of this reform will therefore depend on all of the parties' willingness to give priority to post-school training and further education above other benefits, and thereby help further develop the solidarity alternative. An Education Account The right to have educational leave compensated through a fund should be tied to the individual employee. Each employee should have an education account, where it is clearly stated how much paid educational leave the individual has earned at any given time. When taking educational leave the individual can meet his or her living expenses through the education fund for the duration of time that is earned up in the account. The individual employee is responsible for financing the living expenses for any education that extends beyond the amount of time that is saved up in the education account, e.g. through the State Educational Loan Fund. Some arrangements in the State Educational Loan Fund should be improved so that they are better adapted to the circumstances of adult employees' lives. Support for Competence Building in The Individual Company The employer should still be responsible for training that is directly related to competence building needs in individual businesses. The main agreement between the parties in working life currently has a provision that employees and employers in individual businesses should co-operate on analyses of the competence needs in the company and on the preparation of training plans. Small companies in particular often lack the competence to make these analyses and to conduct the necessary training. The possibility of public support should therefore be tied to the analyses of competence needs and the implementation of training plans in the companies. Subsidy measures and practical assistance can be developed through the Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund (SND). It ought to be just as natural for SND to provide support for the development of the employees' skills as it is for the purchase of new machines and technology. It ought to be possible to record the value of investments in human capital in the accounts in the same way as other investments. Training Opportunities for The Unemployed The funding of post-school training and further education should improve people's capabilities of readjusting and thereby help reduce unemployment. Employees who become unemployed will have the option of using the amount of educational leave they have saved up in their education account. Those who have not earned these rights beforehand will be given an offer of necessary training and competence building through the Labour Market Administration. We are planning to tie this labour market training more directly to particular jobs through stand-ins during periods of study-related leave and buddy systems. For groups that have special problems in the labour market it should be possible to make the duration of the individual measures more flexible. Co-operation on Educational Programmes The capacity in institutes of further education and higher education must be great enough to allow room for adult pupils. In post-school training and further education of employees, it is especially important that there be good, close co-operation between the public school system and the places of employment. Emphasis should be put on developing educational programmes that alternate between theory and practical experience, where the school system and the employer can benefit from each other's knowledge, experience and training methods. Adult education organisations should also play an important role in providing these services. They should receive economic transfers that facilitate this goal. We want to arrange a close co-operation between the public sector and these organisations and the student associations, especially in order to prepare and offer programmes that can increase the competence of adults who have little basic education. These must be programmes that provide qualifications through short, intensive periods of training. Better and more suitable programmes can help increase the interest in post-school training and adult education among those who currently utilise these programmes the least. New information technology provides opportunities that must be used systematically in the work to develop a better programme for remote education so that post-school training and further education become more feasible without the necessity of moving to a different residence. Documentation of Knowledge The individual's knowledge is not just acquired in the classroom, but also through work. In order for this to be taken into consideration in ongoing work and further education, it must become easier to document this kind of knowledge. This can be done by developing arrangements in new fields that correspond to the current Çparagraph 20 arrangementÈ, which gives adults with many years of job experience an opportunity to take an apprenticeship or journeyman's examination without undergoing an apprenticeship. In addition, a public system must be established to improve the documentation of relevant practical work experience. In order to ensure that this documentation is recognised and accepted by everyone, the approval of the individual's actual competence must be carried out in co-operation with the parties in working life and the educational institutions. These documentation arrangements will allow a better comprehensive use of the individual's and the society's resources than if everyone has to pursue a formal education path. Working Hours The Labour Party would like working hours to be adapted to peoples needs at various stages of life. The growth in the economy has made it possible to reduce working hours without a proportional reduction in employees' incomes. In the years to come the Labour Party would like to arrange matters so that some of the increased generation of wealth can be withdrawn in the form of reduced working hours. This should primarily ensure the rights of employees to take educational leave. As a welfare reform we would also like to give fathers the independent right to maternity benefits during child-care leave if the mother is actively employed or getting an education. In the future the Labour Party wants to go in for reforms in the number of working hours that can create more jobs and give the individual a better quality of life. The use of overtime should be limited so that room is made for new posts and hence the possibility of employing more people. There should be enough flexibility to ensure older employees the possibility of retiring before the ordinary retirement age and to ensure those who still want to remain on the job the opportunity to do so. Less Use of Overtime Many employees work a lot of overtime. Some employers make use of this possibility as an alternative to hiring more people. Cutting out unnecessary overtime can make room for more permanent jobs. This requires that sufficiently many workers in a business do the same type of work so that the recourse to overtime can be converted into new jobs. Moreover, those who are unemployed must have the expertise to assume the jobs that are thereby made available. The possibility of limiting the amount of overtime work depends on the way in which the production is organised and on the type of tasks that have to be performed. The Working Environment Act currently regulates the right to make use of overtime. Further restrictions beyond these should be contracted among the concerned parties for each individual job. The Labour Party wants to counteract a trend toward unnecessary use of substitutes and temporary positions and work to ensure that as many people as possible will be permanently employed. Flexible Retirement Age The retirement age for the National Insurance is 67 years. Two thirds of the gainfully employed population are also covered by a Joint Pension Under Collective Agreement (AFP) which gives them the right to retire at age 64. The Joint Pension Under Collective Agreement is financed through a tripartite co-operation among employers, employees and the government. In addition, employers and employees have mutually agreed to give certain groups the opportunity to retire at age 62. The condition for this early retirement is that these persons have a long vocational career behind them. We want to ensure flexibility, which makes it possible for those who are worn out after many years on the job to retire completely or partly before age 67. At the same time, to ensure the best possible balance between the percentage of those receiving national insurance and the percentage who are gainfully employed, we want to encourage as many as possible to remain on the job up to their normal retirement age. It should also be possible to work even longer for those who wish to do so. We want to help prevent older employees from being forced out of their jobs by giving priority to improvements in the working environment, opportunities to go over to easier tasks and possibilities of combining a job and a pension. Child-care Leave and Paternal Rights Child-care leave has been greatly expanded in recent years. The time account scheme ensures flexibility to combine gainful employment with the provision of care. Except for the three weeks prior to the birth and the six weeks after birth that are guaranteed the mother and four weeks of paternity leave, child-care leave can be freely divided between the parents. The father, however, has no independent right to child-care benefits that are meant to replace the loss of income during the period of leave. His right to child-care benefits is dependent on the mother's labour force participation. We want to improve the parents' possibilities of sharing child-care leave by giving fathers who are gainfully employed an independent right to earn child-care benefits based on their own income. However, the father's right should depend on there being a need for him to help provide care. He should not be awarded child-care benefits if the mother stays at home with the child. The mother must either be getting an education or at work. Reforms that give fathers greater opportunities to avail themselves of child-care leave will also help promote equal status for women and men as regards paid labour and the provision of care. After fathers have been given an independent right to earn child care benefits, we want to work for a gradual improvement and expansion of the time account scheme. This kind of expansion would give parents an opportunity to work fewer hours than they do at present. A necessary condition for a future reform of this kind must be that the extra time awarded for child care is equally divided between the parents. If not, there is a risk that better opportunities for child care will become a handicap for women in working life. Entrepreneurial Activities and Economic Development The Labour Party wants to improve companies' ability to meet the challenges of an open, internationalised economy. New regulations for world trade remove trade barriers and change the market situation both nationally and globally. There are many opportunities for entrepreneurial activities and the development of small and intermediate companies that want to build alliances and sell specialised products. Internationalisation So far it is mainly the big groups that have managed to take advantage of the new opportunities in the market, but small and intermediate firms (SMB) that provide customised systems will be able to take a steadily larger place in the internationalised economy. In order for more Norwegian SMB firms to succeed in developing specialised products and forming alliances both at home and abroad, arrangements must be made in advance and restructuring must be carried out. It may be difficult for small and intermediate companies to take part in the round of bids in the EEA market because procedures and standardisation requirements are complicated and require considerable resources. This makes it even more important that there be suitable guidance services throughout the country, which can provide advice and information about these matters. The public resources that are used in development and consulting activities with SMBs, should be concentrated to a greater extent on equipping them to meet the challenges of internationalisation. In keeping with this objective, Norwegian participation in the Euro Info Centre Network and the EU's SMB programme, both of which are designed to help smaller firms form European alliances and business connections, must be intensified in the coming years. The funding of the Norwegian Trade Council's programmes to create joint export projects for groups of SMBs that have difficulty establishing themselves internationally by themselves, should be stepped up. Restructuring Internationalisation also has repercussions for companies that only operate nationally or locally. They meet new competition that makes different demands on quality, efficiency, marketing and customer service. Considerable public resources go to the economic reconstruction of jobs in areas that are plagued by plant closings and unemployment because their companies are not competitive enough. One of our objectives is to shift more of these funds over to preventing problems and developing the local business community's customer base and expertise. If the firms are able to retool for a new market situation with better products and higher efficiency, it will secure jobs and benefit the customers, employees and owners. Public subsidies and support measures should be aimed at creating long-term profitability, financial soundness and new jobs and not be used in practice to merely postpone the problems. Industrial and public research and development contracts are a good instrument for developing specialised products in co-operation with the customers. This entails that a company enters into an agreement with other companies or public activities to develop a product for which they have a need. Public support can be provided for the implementation of these contracts when they will contribute to employment and the development of the supplier companies. Information technology can give special profits to SMBs because it reduces the importance of the companies' size and location and creates new opportunities for effective networks and alliances among small firms. The Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund should help stimulate these co-operative solutions with its network programme and use development subsidies to support joint business concepts and technology diffusion. Competence Building Competence and knowledge are becoming increasingly important competitive factors in the business community. This does not mean, however, that only companies that are big enough to have their own research departments can get ahead. New technology will be available through participation in research programmes, through interaction with universities, colleges and institutes, through co-operation with inventors, and through contacts with other companies both at home and abroad. The Research Council of Norway must give greater priority to attracting SMBs to its programmes and thereby channelling research-based business ideas to them. The North Norwegian Institute of Technology and Innovation in particular should provide technological expertise to help increase the competitiveness of firms in that part of the country, but competence building and other improvements must also occur continuously and internally to a sweeping extent in the companies. In order for companies to be able to acquire the competence they need, we want to introduce equal status for all kinds of expenditures for the education and training of the employees. In other words, expenditures for post-school training and further education should be deductible in the same ways as expenditures for maintaining competence and staying abreast of the latest professional developments. Recruiting of well-qualified manpower can also be ensured by SMBs themselves by co-operating in training rings and establishing more articles of apprenticeship. More funding of company-based training in connection with employment measures will help achieve the same objective. It should otherwise be a key task for the education and labour market authorities to prevent mismatches from arising in some parts of the country between companies' competence needs and the manpower that is trained and available. Entrepreneurial Activities Entrepreneurial activities and the willingness to establish a new company play an important role in the economy. They promote product development and job creation and are crucial for the business community's willingness to invest and competitiveness. In all parts of the country there is a need for a constant high level of new businesses and expansion of existing companies. In order for this to be ensured and the quality of the new companies to be improved, the school system, higher education and industrial policy must all focus to a greater extent on entrepreneurial activities. The entrepreneur grant arrangement should be expanded and accompanied by a more binding arrangement for guidance and follow-up. Economically depressed areas, women, the unemployed and persons with limited career choices should be given priority, provided that the projects have a potential of becoming economically profitable. It should be a priority target area for the Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund to support and provide guidance to entrepreneurs with business ideas based on new technology. The functions of the Norwegian Government Consultative Office for Inventors must be better co-ordinated with other support measures so that it can provide more help to allow inventions to be used for innovation and the establishment of new businesses. The local enterprise funding schemes also play an important role in encouraging increased local entrepreneurial activities. The criteria for dividing the funds among the municipalities should take into consideration the percentage of successful projects in previous years so that more attention is paid to quality and results. Viable Agriculture - Vital Villages The Labour Party wants to ensure a viable agriculture. In order to guarantee adequate incomes and good living conditions for those who live in rural areas, efforts must be made to support increased creation of wealth based on local, renewable resources. Taking agriculture as the point of departure, existing jobs should be preserved and new ones based on the processing and sale of natural raw materials should be created. Agriculture and forestry should be practised in a sustainable way, which takes care of future production possibilities while ensuring biological diversity. Agriculture takes care of important shared values. The cultural landscape should be developed and attended to, and the transition to organic production should be stepped up. The utilisation of natural resources must be planned and managed in such a way that the unnecessary exploitation of valuable agricultural areas, outlying forests and fields and mountainous areas is avoided. Agriculture We want to maintain a viable and sustainable agriculture throughout the entire country. Agriculture is important for maintaining the main features of the pattern of settlement. If agriculture is going to be able to have this function in the future as well, we must continue to strive for an agricultural sector that has increased earnings and that is less dependent on transfers of funds from the society at large. In order to improve the income situation in agriculture, the costs must be reduced. More funds must be invested in products for which there is a demand, while cutting back production in areas where there is currently overproduction. In the future, however, major transfers of funds to the agricultural sector will still be necessary. The geographical and climatic conditions in Norway make this necessary. We want to target support and subsidies to rural regions and family farms. Labour-intensive livestock production in rural regions should continue to be given priority. In order to maintain the level of milk production in rural areas, it should not be permissible to sell milk quotas from one rural region to another. There must still be room for both large and small farms in Norway as permitted by the natural conditions. Half of the farmers currently conduct their activities in combination with other jobs. The practice of combining farming with another job is a natural part of Norwegian agriculture. We want to speed up the transition to organic production. At the same time it is crucial that good, profitable systems be established for the processing and sale of organic products. Forestry Forestry plays an important role in the creation of wealth and accounts for a significant amount of Norway's export revenues. The growth in Norwegian forests is greater than the cut. We want to help create more secure year-round jobs in forestry. In order to accomplish this, the imbalances in the tax level between fully mechanised logging and manual forms of operation must be reduced. We want to introduce subsidies for forestry jobs that rotate among a group of forest of forest owners, along the lines of the relief worker arrangement in livestock keeping. This will help create a basis for collaborating to provide year-round employment of forestry workers in farm-based forestry. At the same time, arrangements must be made to expand the range of products and increase the degree of processing. Environmental concerns present both challenges and opportunities to the further development of the forest industry and related industries. The forest helps withdraw CO2 from the atmosphere. In order to increase this withdrawal, the forest must be kept growing as rapidly as possible. This requires active reforestation work carried out by skilled labour at the right time in the growth cycle. Forests and outlying fields are important for recreation and outdoor activities. In some cases these are important supplementary industries for forest owners. The provision of these services must be professional and market-oriented. Rural Development and Jobs for Women New technology is employed in agriculture as in all other sectors. Employment in this sector has therefore declined throughout the entire post-war period. In order to maintain employment and increase the creation of wealth in rural regions, it is necessary to make arrangements to help create new jobs there. Through funds for rural development we want to help promote a more varied range of jobs associated with agriculture. It is especially important to create more jobs for women. Special measures that can create employment for women in rural regions should be continued. Among other things, these include entrepreneur schools for girls, special follow-up courses and networks of female entrepreneurs. Subsidies should be provided for the establishment of company kindergartens and of development programmes in companies that are actively in favour of more female skilled workers and managers. Decentralised public education programmes are also important. They can help prevent people from moving away from rural regions, create new jobs and increase the level of economic activity. Reindeer Husbandry Reindeer husbandry is an important part of the basis for the Sami culture. Reindeer husbandry should be sustainable on three levels: ecologically, economically and culturally. It is a major challenge, especially for the reindeer industry in Finnmark, to reduce the number of reindeer so that they are more in balance with the available grazing resources while increasing the profits and quality of the meat from each reindeer. A big demand for reindeer meat provides good opportunities for the industry. The processing of reindeer meat should take place at reindeer slaughterhouses that are in compliance with current nutritional and environmental laws and regulations. Based on Sami traditions, we want to promote restructuring and the development of supplementary industries associated with reindeer husbandry. Predators, Livestock and Domesticated Reindeer The big predators are a part of the biological diversity. The population of predators is increasing. Nevertheless, some segments of the Norwegian population of the big predators, bear, wolf, wolverine and lynx are vulnerable and threatened. It is one of our objectives to ensure viable populations of these animals. In some areas of the country there is a significant conflict between predators and agricultural interests. We want to support measures that will limit the damages caused by big predators as much as possible so that agricultural operations can be maintained throughout the whole country. Administrative plans should be devised for the key areas where predators are found. We share the wolf and bear populations in border regions with our neighbouring countries, and plans should be made for a co-ordinated management that allows for viable populations. Damage to livestock and domesticated reindeer should be prevented, among other things through various forms of control, such as arrangements for herdsmen, the organised utilisation of outlying forests and fields and the testing of new, alternative measures. There should also be an opportunity to remove predators with a history of attacking livestock, even if they are in key predator areas. Compensation measures must be organised so that livestock owners do not have to suffer unreasonable economic losses. Properly Produced Food, Good Plant and Animal Health Agriculture should be sustainable, and consumers must be ensured properly produced food. This requires the development of quality systems that document the production process from the earth to the table. The goal is to maintain good animal health, and, as a step in this process, to reduce the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry. The use of growth hormones and the sale of products that are produced with growth hormones should not be permitted in Norway. All genetically modified food products must be labelled. Fish and meat remains that are to be used for animal fodder must be treated so that infectious agents are not communicated and the propagation of bacteria is avoided. Since there is extensive international commerce in food products, this is an area where international co-operation and agreements will be crucial. We want to work in international fora to gain acceptance for a set of regulations that ensure properly produced food, good animal health and labelling arrangements for food products that enable consumers to make informed choices. Increased Exports Norway has a very open economy. We are dependent on good international trade agreements to ensure our welfare. Fish and forest products are major export industries, but we also have a certain amount of export of agricultural products, such as strawberries, cherries, and other produce. The EEA agreements provides opportunities for the duty-free export of many goods in the produce sector. Norway has certain natural advantages here that make it possible to increase its agricultural exports. The necessary conditions are that the products maintain a high quality and that enough are produced to supply the foreign market. Sustainable Management of The Fishery Resources The Labour Party wants to manage the fishery resources so as to achieve the highest possible long-term, sustainable yield. The fishing industry is one of Norway's most important export industries. Conditions should be arranged in such a way that the co-operation between the fishing fleet, the fish farming industry and the fish-processing industry can continue, with the aim of promoting profitability and the creation of wealth and jobs while maintaining the pattern of settlement along the coast. One of our objectives must be to recruit more women into the fishing and fish farming industries. Resource Management The Norwegian fishery resources belong to the society at large, and they should be managed and exploited by the society through an objective fisheries policy aimed at promoting economic development and securing the pattern of settlement. The sea's resources should be managed in a sustainable way, based on the principles in the Treaty on the Law of the Sea and the UN treaty relating to fishing in the open sea. Eighty percent of Norway's fishery resources are managed jointly with other nations. Thus, binding international co-operation on resource management is crucial. Principles of sustainability must be decisive in the co-operation between Norway and other nations on fishery matters. Especially in the North Sea area, greater resource yields can be achieved by basing the management of fisheries on these principles. We want Norway to be a prime mover in this work. Marine mammals, such as seals and whales, play an important role in marine ecosystems. As with other biological resources, the surplus of these populations must be culled. Multi-species management should also apply to marine mammals. The Fishing Fleet As a guiding principle, the fishing fleet should continue to be owned by active fishermen. However, it should still be possible to make exceptions to this rule for the marine fishing fleet when this is necessary in order to improve the economy of the fleet, help maintain a viable fishing industry, maintain the geographical distribution of commercial marine fishing permits, and increase the possibility of co-operation between the fishing fleet and onshore industries. This will be especially relevant for strengthening the marine fishing fleet in Northern Norway. It is necessary to undertake a considerable renovation and upgrading of the fishing fleet both to develop efficient operations and profitability and to meet the industry's needs for quality raw materials. In order to ensure recruitment, it will be necessary to support a transition to larger marine fishing vessels. We want to arrange matters to promote this kind of renovation and upgrading, partly by giving the fishing fleet access to the same regional policy instruments that are available to other industries, including investment grants. Renovation of the fleet must be based on harvesting the resources on the basis of sustainable management principles. It is necessary to have a capacity in the fishing fleet that is adapted to the resource base, that helps maintain the regional distribution of fishing rights along the coast, and that helps preserve the need for differentiated sizes of coastal fishing vessels. The coastal fishing fleet should continue to be the backbone of the Norwegian fishing industry. To preserve the onshore fish processing industry, one of our objectives is to limit production on board the vessels. The Fish-processing Industry Stable, year-round employment in the fish-processing industry is an important factor in stabilising the pattern of settlement along the coast of Norway. We can only achieve this kind of stability through a predictable supply of raw materials, which provides a basis for stable processing in Norway. The structure of the fish-processing industry is characterised by a large number of small and intermediate firms. To ensure a diverse array of companies that provide secure and stable jobs along the coast, emphasis must be given to economics and profitability. Only through profitable production and an array of companies that is adapted to the raw material base and the demand will the level of employment in the fish-processing industry be maintained. Conditions should be arranged to promote increased processing and product development and better marketing strategies so that the wealth generated by the fisheries can increase and secure employment at sea and on land. Aquaculture There is a big potential for growth in Norwegian aquaculture production. This is true of both the traditional fish-farming species of salmon and trout, new marine fish-farming species and various types of shellfish. The number of suitable locations does not seem to be a limiting factor for achieving an increase in production either. It is important, however, that the industry not grow faster than the markets can absorb. In order to better control the production, the industry should organise itself into producer organisations. Farming of new marine species will be an important step in realising the growth potential of the aquaculture industry. Halibut and scallops are regarded as the most promising species. Wolf-fish and mussels are also species of which much is expected. To put these and other species in profitable production, the input of resources from the public and private sectors must be increased and co-ordinated. The biggest potential for growth in the Norwegian aquaculture industry and the rest of the Norwegian fisheries industry lies in increasing the degree of processing. If we are going to succeed at this, greater investments must be made in market research and marketing work for fisheries and the aquaculture industry. Harbours In order to achieve fishery and transport policy objectives, it is necessary to have functional fishery and traffic harbours. We want to work to establish a harbour infrastructure that is adapted to the conditions in the different parts of the country. We want to invest in the renovation of harbours that serve all of the stages in the industry, i.e. both the fishing fleet, the fish-processing industry and the export stage. An important requirement is that increased public funding of harbour construction be based on co-operation between municipalities, counties, the state and the business community. We also want to work to establish important transport harbours for exports to Europe, which can reduce the costs and ensure and increase the transition from transport by highway to transport by sea. This is necessary both for environmental reasons and so as to avoid transport bottlenecks on the highway network in Central Europe. City and Land, Hand in Hand The Labour Party wants to develop the different regions' advantages for the good of the country as a whole. City and country have different functions in the national division of labour and are mutually dependent on each other. By taking advantage of this mutual relationship, we can ensure an access to raw materials, create diversity in the economic development and provide a good basis for welfare. Many rural areas are critically dependent on agriculture, forestry and fisheries in order to maintain their employment and pattern of settlement. We want to develop a special plan of action for economic development in rural regions with one of the objectives being a broader range of jobs. We want to ensure the main features in the pattern of settlement and arrange for equitable living conditions throughout the entire country. In urban development the lessening of social differences and measures that can result in a cleaner, safer environment are among the most important tasks. The Role of The Rural Regions Natural resources such as fish, soil, forests, minerals and hydropower provide the basis for much of the creation of wealth that takes place in Norway. Important industrial sectors are based on energy and mineral reserves that are found in the rural regions. The sale of products from industries that utilise these various natural resources constitutes a major share of our export revenues. Through agriculture and fishing, the resources should be managed in an ecologically correct way, the soil conserved and the cultural landscape maintained. Even though agriculture and fishing are no longer the most important job-creating industries in rural regions, they constitute an important basis for the development of various service industries in both the public and private sectors. The combination of nature, settlement, cultural monuments and economic activities provides unique opportunities for tourism and recreation in Norway. Norwegian tourism is already an important industry that is of great importance for the jobs that are available and the pattern of settlement in rural regions, and this industry still has a potential for further growth. This further development should occur in close collaboration with other affected industries, such as agriculture, reindeer husbandry, and fisheries. In connection with the traditional industries a coastal culture and a rural culture have emerged, which at times reveal big differences in the way of life between different regions and between rural and urban areas. These comprise a diversity of great value that must be preserved. The rural regions must also play a crucial role in the future for the entire country's economic development and for its culture, natural heritage and tourism. Therefore, the effort to preserve the main features of the pattern of settlement are an important aspect of the Labour Party's comprehensive policy. The Role of Urban Centres In urban areas conditions are especially favourable for developing activities that depend on each other's goods and services. Service industries and institutions associated with educational, cultural and public activities are often located in urban areas because of this accessibility. Cities also provide a broader form of accessibility because they function as communication nodes. Historically cities have therefore been important Çimport harboursÈ for new ideas and techniques. Centres for the development of skills have traditionally been located in the major urban centres, where they are close to a diversity of people and activities. A large number of people get their education and have their first job experience in the larger towns and the cities. Cities and towns also function as service centres for the population in the surrounding region. The cities' roles as communication and education centres and as meeting places make them important engines for driving the Norwegian economy. These are the tasks that the Labour Party wants to enable urban centres to solve as well as possible. Therefore, we want to make further investments in the development of infrastructure, education, research, culture and new economic activities in urban areas. Mutual Dependence Urban and rural areas have different functions in the economy. The differences in culture, environment and economic structure between different regions and parts of the country illustrate that there must be a division of labour and an interaction between them. The creation of wealth in one region is dependent on other regions functioning well. The development of each individual region's advantages gives the best utilisation of the country's total resources. The regional division of labour is not a constant factor, however. It is subject to constant change. Changes in the resource base, marketing possibilities, communications, technology and other production factors help bring this about, nor do we want to leave the control of regional development to market forces alone in the future either. Through a welfare programme that ensures equitable living conditions, competence building and the establishment of infrastructure, and by providing support to help establish new businesses, we hope to develop regional advantages and ensure further development based on co-operation between city and country. The Pattern of Settlement The need to get away and the need to get an education or find work have always caused people to change their place of residence, but in Norway we have avoided the depopulation of the rural regions, which some of our neighbouring countries have undergone. This has been possible because we have given priority to the development of rapidly growing regional and local centres and located important institutions and jobs in the rural regions. We want to stick to the goal of maintaining the main features in the pattern of settlement. The policy instruments for achieving this goal will mostly be the same as before. We want to concentrate on local and regional centres, equitable welfare services throughout the entire country, and the establishment of jobs in new growth industries. The primary industries, i.e. the harvesting and processing of natural resources, will continue to provide an important basis for maintaining the pattern of settlement of these regions. Further growth in the public welfare sector will ensure both the quality of life and important jobs, especially for women. Investments in tourism and rural development should be continued. In addition, it is important to promote economic development and the creation of jobs that provide a broader range of job opportunities. We would therefore like to take the initiative to launch a plan of action for making use of new technology to provide opportunities for jobs in rural regions. By promoting greater diversity in the rural regions, they can be made attractive to more young people. This can result in less imbalance in the age distribution in many municipalities. Infrastructure Norway is a long, narrow country where infrastructure in the form of roads, public transport, postal services and telecommunications services are a necessary condition for maintaining the pattern of settlement. In the coming years we want to particularly invest in maintaining the already existing road network. Public transportation should be an alternative to cars in sparsely populated regions, but it has mainly been developed in urban areas. We must develop an infrastructure for telecommunications and computer services that provides equal opportunities for electronic communication throughout the entire country, and we must also have a good, stable network of air routes. Equitable postal service should be ensured through greater use of rural postmen and the establishment of contract post offices. The Distribution of Income Municipalities and counties are responsible for the most important welfare services in the provision of care, health, education and culture. Through the distribution of income the municipalities' economic capability of providing people with these services should be equalised. The goal is to distribute the income in such a way that equivalent welfare services can be provided throughout the entire country. This has meant that differences in living conditions that traditionally have been to the disadvantage of rural regions have been replaced with a greater degree of equality. Most of the municipalities that currently have problems meeting their populations' welfare needs are situated in more centrally located regions of the country. In recent decades these municipalities have undergone changes in social conditions and in their demographic and age structures because certain groups have migrated to the cities for various reasons. This is especially noticeable in Oslo with its marked differences between the east and west sides of town. This is the background for the need to make changes in the revenue distribution system. These changes should be made in such a way that the services provided are improved where they currently are worst without being weakened where they are already good. In order to achieve this goal and meet the increased needs for the provision of health and care services, the Labour Party wants to increase the transfers of public funds to the municipalities. During a transition period the revenue distribution system should gradually be reformed so that more consideration is given to the social costs of the distribution. Work must continue on developing cost criteria linked to social conditions and the needs in the care sector so that the costs of these portions of the municipalities' expenditures can be better absorbed. Special regional subsidies should be given to the smallest municipalities, and the subsidy to Northern Norway should be maintained. Throughout the whole transition period discretionary funds will ensure that no primary municipalities will lose out in the reform. Moreover, discretionary funds should primarily be used to deal with extraordinary situations and other circumstances that are not dealt with by the equalisation of expenditures. Cost criteria must be developed, which give more consideration to expenditures for sparsely populated areas, transport to schools, ambulance services, care of substance abusers, psychiatry, the climate and factors related to the technical sector. Until these criteria have been developed, the conditions must be followed up by allocating discretionary funds. We want to focus special attention on Oslo's inner east side. Both the central government and the municipality of Oslo must commit themselves to co-operate on a long-term effort in the inner east side neighbourhoods to improve the environment and the stock of housing and to develop good welfare programmes for the population. Spitsbergen The Labour Party's main objectives in its policy on Spitsbergen are: a consistent enforcement of Norwegian sovereignty, correct observance of the Spitsbergen Treaty, monitoring to ensure that the treaty is complied with, the preservation of tranquillity and stability in the area and the protection of the area's unusual nature and environment. The Labour Party wants to help develop a local democratic model for the Norwegian settlements in Longyearbyen and Svea. Coal mining should continue to be an important basis for the economic development and jobs. In addition, we want to develop the research community and other industries on Spitsbergen. Spitsbergen has outstanding environmental and natural conditions, which we want to protect. Therefore, environmental impacts must be documented before the start of new measures and projects. Sami Culture and Economic Development The Labour Party wants to give Sami culture in its broadest sense an opportunity to grow and develop. Traditional Sami economic activity should be economically viable and pro-vide opportunities for development at the same time as new industries are developed, hopefully in combination with the traditional ones. Sami natural resources should be managed in accordance with clear ecological principles. Children, youth and adults should have the opportunity for instruction about and in the Sami language. Economic Activity and Resources Much of the Sami's cultural basis and existence is linked with the traditional use of natural resources and with the primary industries, but the Sami villages have also become more dependent on the modern economy. We want these areas to be made attractive for new businesses. To the extent that it is possible, these new industries should be based on Sami culture and traditions. In particular, efforts should be made to promote jobs for women. In carrying out this reorganisation, it is crucial to invest in education and competence building. This will be a necessary condition both for providing opportunities for combining traditional and modern industries and for developing alternative industries. The economic policy measures that are implemented in the primary industries help promote sustainable development and employment. It is important to arrange matters so that fishing and agriculture can be practised in combination with other activities. The support for the practice of deriving income from several different economic activities should therefore continue. Natural resources should be harvested in keeping with ecological principles. Sami Language, Culture and Identity The Sami are members of the Norwegian society, but at the same time they possess an indigenous people's minority culture, which must be given ample room so that it can be preserved and develop. A vital Sami community is the very basis for a broad ongoing development of Sami culture. We want to strengthen Sami cultural activities because this is crucial for strengthening Sami identity and self-awareness and because it provides important impulses to our cultural life and to the society in general. Cultural activities provide the majority in the Norwegian society with knowledge about the Sami. This can help increase understanding of and opportunities for the Sami population. Good opportunities should be provided for the establishment of jobs in Sami crafts. Cultural activities intended for children and youth that have their roots in Sami culture should be given special priority. The Sami sports movement should receive public support. Education and Competence Building The level of education among the Sami in key Sami areas has generally been low. This is related to the lack of a sufficient number of teachers, poorly adapted educational materials and the fact that until recently the Sami have had little or no influence on the content of the subject matter taught in their schools. We want Sami pupils to be able to completely master both the Sami and Norwegian languages. Multi-lingual skills should be encouraged and the pupils should be enabled to function well in a multi-cultural society. The right to instruction about and in the Sami language must be extended to all Sami children in the primary and lower secondary schools for whom the Sami language is their mother tongue. Adults who were not given an opportunity to learn the Sami language at school because of the former Norwegianisation policy, should be given this opportunity, primarily through adult educational measures. A comprehensive plan for higher Sami education and research should be prepared. The Role of The Sameting The Sameting (the Sami Parliament) should provide Sami influence on matters of special importance for the Sami population. It should have the role of an elected body for the Sami population in Norway. It is important that the number of people who are counted in the Sami census and take part in the Sameting elections increase. Information activities directed at those who have Sami ancestors should be strengthened so that more of these people register in the census and take part in the elections. Co-operation in the Nordic Arctic Region In order for the Sami to be given a good opportunity for common development and international contacts, it is important that they be given opportunities for joint appearances and representation in relevant international fora. It is natural to hold regular plenary sessions among the Sami elected bodies in the Nordic countries, where the minority in each assembly is also given reasonable representation. Solutions should be devised for removing barriers to human contact in the region, among other things by continuing to strengthen the contacts with the Sami on the Kola peninsula in Russia. |
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