Norway
3.31 Norway gained its independence from Sweden in 1905, a union which
had lasted since 1814. Prior to that Norway had been under Danish rule
since 1300.
3.32 The current population is approximately 4.1 million. Unlike Norway's
Nordic neighbours Sweden and Finland, the population voted in a
referendum in November 1994 not to join the European Union, after an
emotional campaign by both the "yes" and "no" sides. Norway continues to
be a member of EFTA, and has ratified the EEA agreement (European
Economic Area agreement). Norway is a member of NATO, and a staunch
supporter and member of the United Nations.
3.33 The Norwegian Parliament, Stortinget, has 165 seats. At the last
general election these seats were taken by 100 male and 65 female
representatives from eight different political parties.
3.34 In addition to the elected representatives the parliament is the
work place for 320 people. This figure has been rising steadily over the
past twenty years, because of the increasing service expectations of
those using the parliament, according to the administrative head of the
Storting.
3.35 There are fifteen ministries in Norway with 3628 employees.
3.36 There are 45 foreign embassies, consulates and delegations in Norway.
Most of these are in Oslo but there are a few consulate representatives
in some of the main ports.
3.37 Norway's national interests abroad are maintained by 500 persons
working in 60embassies, 11 consulates general and seven delegations. In
addition 600 are stationed in Oslo at the Foreign Office.
3.38 The Norwegian Trade Council has 300 employees. 150 of these are posted
outside Norway in 37 countries, and these persons have diplomatic status.
The Norwegian Trade Council has some offices of its own; others are
represented from national embassies.
3.39 After the national referenda in Austria, Finland, Sweden and Norway
regarding membership to the European Union, Norway's "No" has seen the
country continue as a member of EFTA. EFTA comprises now of only four
member countries and as of November 1994 the secretariat has been reduced.
Of the 110 positions in the organisation, Norwegians hold 43 of them.
These jobs are both in the central Brussels secretariat and ESA (EFTA
surveillance agency).
3.40 Up until September 1992 there was only one national television
channel produced by NRK (The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) the
state financed broadcasting corporation. In the autumn of 1992, TV2 came
on the air. A commercial station, TV2 was the first to challenge NRK's
monopoly. When the government gave the concession to TV2 the west coast
location of the company's headquarters was important in the decision,
with jobs being created in another part of the country. Many households
access cable television and for those homes TVNorge is the largest and
most significant cable station broadcasting to large parts of the country
from Norwegian soil.
3.41 In the early 1980s laws prohibiting commercial radio broadcasting
were lifted and local radio stations became the norm. NRK's monopoly of
the national airwaves was not broken however until 1994 when P4 was
launched. Broadcasting from Lillehammer, the station is financed
commercially. P4 has one 24 hour channel, NRK broadcast nationally on
four channels.
3.42 The estimated numbers of employees are:
Television Radio Joint Staff Total
NRK 985 631 1,386 3,002
TV2 350 350
TVNorge 220* 220
P4 40 40
Total 1,555 671 1,386 3,612
* figure includes 220 freelancers
3.43 There are numerous small local radio stations scattered around Norway.
In Spring 1995 they had 1,500 employees, but in addition to that there
are around 10,000 who help out on a voluntary basis. The Association of
Local Radios in Norway estimates that this group contributes with one
thousand man years of unsalaried work.
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