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At 1 pm, party leaders Erna Solberg (H), Guri Melby (V), Kjell Ingolf Ropstad (KrF) and Siv Jensen (Frp) met for a new negotiation meeting in the Prime Minister’s office.
– Now we are very excited about what the government offers since yesterday. But I can say that we are experiencing massive support for our fight against cross-border trade tariffs, says Jensen on his way to budget negotiations.
– And we are experiencing equally massive support for our fight to put more money into asphalt projects, landslide protection and roads. And it’s about jobs, he says.
But no one dares to predict when a potential deal may be ready. The financial debate at the Storting will take place on December 3.
– Extraordinary situation
The Storting’s finance committee made its recommendation on the issue on Friday.
– The financial recommendation was presented today without a majority, but with the parties’ own comments. It is true that we are in overtime, but we are in an extraordinary situation, and along the way we have also launched an important agreement on powerful crisis measures, says the leader of the finance committee, Mudassar Kapur (H) to NTB.
A week after the negotiations, government parties and the FRP agreed on a crisis package for companies and municipalities affected by the crown for a total of NOK 22.1 billion.
– I have great faith that the bourgeois parties will reach a budget agreement that will help secure and create more jobs. That’s the most important thing now, says Kapur.
– Very unfortunate
For the opposition, the delays are bad news. Now they hardly have time to familiarize themselves with a possible budget deal and to present their own reactions to what the government parties and the FRP had to agree on.
– It is very unfortunate that right-wing parties during an ongoing infection control crisis and economic crisis are unable to reach an agreement on the country’s budget within the deadlines, says Labor Party fiscal policy spokesperson Hadia Tajik to NTB.
– They create unnecessary uncertainty and clearly show that they prioritize the partisan political game between them, more than the interests of the country, he believes.
Delays also have consequences for the professional committees of the Storting. They now run the risk of having to postpone the processing of cases that have budgetary consequences until 2021.
– It is the presidency that follows the situation and considers any changes in the consideration of the budget of other committees, says Kapur.
More nuts
Tax cuts on cross-border products like soft drinks, chocolate and alcohol are just one of the key points in the bargaining chip.
On Friday, Jensen also emphasized the need to secure pensioners’ finances and the need for the FRP to toughen asylum and immigration policy.
– There is still a great distance between us and the government. It is up to the government to put what is needed on the table so that we can see the contours of a deal.
From what NTB understands, it is unlikely that a deal was reached this weekend. The reason for this is simply that a lot of work remains to be done on the budget.
Negotiations began on November 9, but the first week it was agreed to talk about the crisis package.
Also several times before, the budget negotiations between the four bourgeois parties ended abruptly in overtime, especially in 2016. Then a dispute over car taxes ended with the agreement that was not ready for a short time before the debate. finance at the Storting.
