Free school meals, a more restrictive predator policy, an increase in the CO2 tax, and no to saving Ullevål hospital – these are just some of the things the Labor Party (AP) and the Center Party (SP) agree on.
After long negotiations, on Wednesday, the two parties presented the policy they agreed on outside Hurdalsjøen Hotell.
These are some of the key points in the 80-page document they have named “The Hurdal Platform”:
* Troms and Finnmark will be dissolved, and the parties also allow for the dissolution of Viken.
* Norwegian emissions will be cut by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990, and the CO2 tax will be increased up to NOK 2,000 in 2030.
* The overall level of taxes and duties on people’s income must be kept unchanged. The electricity and fuel tax must be reduced.
* Norway’s membership in the EEA and NATO is permanent.
Støre: Fulfilled election promises
Future PM Jonas Gahr Støre says that all the 40 points in the hundred-day plan the party presented before the election have been fulfilled in the government platform.
“The AP is very satisfied with this platform. The Storting group warmly supported it, and it delivers on our key issues: work, welfare, and climate,” he said.
“We have not achieved this by defeating the Center Party; on the contrary, we have agreed on most things in these points, he added.
Earlier Wednesday, the government platform was approved by the parliamentary groups in the two respective parties.
“We have worked as a team to find the best solutions, and I am very satisfied. Now we get a government that does not overrule but listens to and sees people, which develops the whole of Norway, Vedum said.
Ullevål defeat for the SP
The AP and the SP agree on a lot, but there was tension in advance related to several of the points in the platform.
The decision that Ullevål hospital in Oslo will be closed as was previously decided is probably difficult for the SP leader to accept.
“It is well-known that we have different views on that matter. This is how it is in a government platform – you have to find the good common solutions, and then we have reached the platform that is here now,” Vedum said.
Must negotiate
The AP and the SP form a minority government, which means that the content of the government platform will also be the subject of negotiations in the Storting.
The SV is the parties’ preferred budget partner. Vedum says the two parties are ready to negotiate taxes and other policies in the parliament.
“We believe it is a clear goal that people with ordinary, medium incomes should have lower taxes and tax burdens,” he added.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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