The control committee has been working for seven months, with a pile of documents the size of a brick and carried out a historic, 11-hour marathon hearing at the Storting. Today, the committee finally comes with its recommendations on the many competency cases that characterized Norwegian politics last summer and autumn. The control committee’s task is to make sure that the current government does not make mistakes and that they follow up on what the Storting has decided. Last year, several ministers and a former prime minister admitted mistakes. The committee can give different degrees of criticism to those who have made mistakes: The mildest variant is to state that a case is “serious” The next is to give “criticism” There is also “strong criticism”, which can come through a so-called date resolution As an extreme consequence, the committee can put forward a motion of no confidence The Habilitetrotet started at the end of June last year. Case 1: Tonje Brenna (Ap) Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB On 20 June, then Minister of Education Tonje Brenna (Ap) went to VG and said that she had broken the rules of competence. She gave a board position in the Wergeland Center to her good friend Frode Elgesem, whom she was actually incompetent to deal with. Status: Brenna remained in office as a minister, and is currently Minister for Employment and Inclusion. Case 2: Anette Trettebergstuen (Ap) Just a few days later, on Friday 23 June, Aftenposten was able to report that former culture minister Anette Trettebergstuen (Ap) had also given board positions to two close friends. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB Trettebergstuen appointed Bård Nylund as a board member of the Norwegian Folk Museum, and a member of the Equality and Diversity Committee. She also appointed Renate Larsen as a board member of Den Norske Opera & Ballett. Status: Trettebergstuen resigned as minister later the same day. She is now back at the Storting, and is a member of the work and social affairs committee. Økokrim opened an investigation against Trettebergstuen in February after the competency cases. Case 3: Ola Borten Moe (Sp) In the middle of the joint holiday, 21 July, E24 could tell that former research and higher education minister Ola Borten Moe (Sp) had also broken the government’s ethics rules. But this time as a result of share trading. On 5 January last year, Borten Moe bought shares worth around NOK 415,000 in the arms and technology company Kongsberg Gruppen. The time of purchase was decisive. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB A week after the share purchase, Borten Moe attended a government meeting where the government decided to enter into a multi-billion dollar contract for the purchase of ammunition from Nammo. Kongsberg Gruppen, in which Borten Moe had just traded shares, indirectly owns 25 percent of Nammo. Borten Moe admitted that he had been incompetent when he was involved in processing the billion-dollar contract. He also said that he had breached the government’s guidelines for share trading. Status: Borten Moe resigned as both minister and deputy leader of the Center Party later the same day. He is back in the Storting, and is a member of the foreign affairs and defense committee. Borten Moe is not running for re-election to the Storting in 2025. Økokrim is still investigating whether Borten Moe may have been guilty of punishable insider trading. Case 4: Anniken Huitfeldt (Ap) In August, another case appeared. On 30 August, former Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt (Ap) went to VG and admitted mistakes. Her husband Ola Flem had traded shares more than 100 times while she was foreign minister, including in Kongsberg Gruppen – without her being aware of it. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB She said she had given her husband training in the ethics rules, but by not telling about the share trading, the husband wanted to create “watertight bulkheads”. It nevertheless resulted in Huitfeldt not having enough knowledge to be able to assess his own competence. Huitfeldt said there was reason to believe that she had been unknowingly incompetent in several cases she had dealt with as a minister. Status: Huitfeldt remained a minister for a month and a half after the case became known, but was replaced as foreign minister against her will on 16 October. She is now back at the Storting, and is a member of the industry committee. Økokrim concluded on 7 September that they did not want to investigate Huitfeldt and her husband. Several mediums learn that Huitfeldt will be appointed as Norway’s new ambassador to the USA on 1 March. Case 5: Erna Solberg (H) The day after Huitfeldt’s share case broke, on 31 August, E24 was able to report that Høgre leader Erna Solberg’s husband had also traded shares when she was prime minister. A few days after the municipal and county council elections in the autumn, Solberg broke down in tears on a lectern and said that she had been incompetent in several cases she had dealt with during her eight years as prime minister. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB Her husband Sindre Finnes had traded shares in a big way, and to a much greater extent than she was aware of. He made close to 3,300 transactions in close to 80 companies during her time as prime minister, according to his share list. Quite concretely, Solberg mentioned that she had declared herself ineligible in cases involving Hydro, if she was aware of the extent of her husband’s share trading. Status: Solberg is still party leader and prime ministerial candidate for Høgre. Økokrim concluded on 3 November that they did not want to investigate Solberg and her husband for criminal insider trading. Aims to agree on rules Industry Minister Jan Christian Vestre (Ap) also came out in the autumn and said he was incompetent when a friend of his got leadership positions in his ministry. The committee has also assessed his breach of integrity. In addition to coming up with a recommendation on the individual cases, the aim of the committee is to agree on specific changes in the government’s rules, so that similar cases will not happen again.
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These are the competency cases – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
