What the Federation of Norwegian Industries Believes

The Federation of Norwegian Industries represents over 2,200 industrial companies with altogether about 120,000 employees. Industry is facing many challenges, and with the financial crisis and unrest in global markets, things have become even more crucial for our domestic industry.

As an organisation, the Federation of Norwegian Industries has a long tradition of active dialogue with politicians of all parties. On a basis of fact, we communicate what is needed for industry to be secured viable conditions and opportunities for continued growth.

Here is the Federation of Norwegian Industries’ 10 point programme for the 2009-2013 parliamentary term of the Storting:

1. Responsible economic policy. Norway must follow the fiscal rule and, throughout an economic cycle, pursue an economic policy that gives lower growth in real, underlying public expenditure than the increase in value creation in mainland Norway.
    
2. Tax on working capital. Screening rules must be introduced to reduce tax on working capital.
    
3. Depreciation rules for production equipment and R&D. The depreciation rate for machinery must be increased to 30%. The tax authorities’ classification of production equipment associated with machinery must be changed and depreciation of R&D must be reintroduced.
    
4. Commercially oriented research and innovation. The fund for research and innovation must be increased to NOK 100 billion and managed in such a way that combined efforts for commercially oriented research are strengthened, both absolutely and relatively.
    
5. Increased exploitation of petroleum resources for value creation in Norway. The opening up of more areas in the north for petroleum activities must be facilitated. The state must assist in establishing infrastructure for gas, so that Norwegian gas can be exploited for further value creation in Norway too.
    
6. Harmonised climate quota policy. Norway must introduce the same rules for trading in greenhouse gas quotas as in the EU countries with effect from 2013. Measures must be initiated to prevent carbon leakage from production being moved to countries outside the quota trading area. One prerequisite for this is that measures must be implemented to counteract or compensate for the mark up on power prices - caused by the quota costs for power production in Europe’s coal-fired power stations - that are imposed on a Norwegian industry that is competing in global markets.
    
7. Enough power and new energy solutions. A competitive regulatory framework must be established, so that Norway can exploit its natural conditions and take part in the European work to produce more renewable energy and make the exploitation of energy resources more efficient. More power must be supplied, so as to ensure a balance of power supplies in all parts of the country. The financing of any cables abroad and new grid solutions must allow for sources of finance other than just the consumer section.
    
8. Transport. An all-out effort must be made to develop the trunk road network and a modern, forward looking railway.
    
9. Competitive tendering for service production. Very many development projects, services and assignments that have traditionally been produced by public enterprises could benefit from being put out to tender and privatised. This assumes that the regulations permit competition on equal terms and that good, objective routines are developed for tendering and procurement. Among other things, value added tax must be handled in such a way that government, local authority and private producers of goods and services are given genuinely equal treatment.
    
10. Expertise. Conditions must be created in which industry has access at all times to the necessary expertise for working in competitive conditions, with regard to day-to-day operations, research and innovation. This means a requirement for continued strengthening of the science subjects in all parts of the educational system and that demands better interaction throughout the system for managing and promoting knowledge.