Norwegian Competition Authority
Encyclopedia
Norwegian Competition Authority is Norwegian
Government agency
responsible for managing the Competition Act of 2004, including regulation
s imposed through the European Economic Community
. This includes regulating cooperation
that hinders competition
, misuse of a dominant market position and control of buy-outs and mergers. The authority is based in Bergen
.
when merchants made large profits maximizing the prise of necessary goods. To counter this, the authorities regulated the prise and availability of food through rations. On July 21, 1917 the Norwegian Price Directorate was created to regulate the Norwegian market. The present name came in 1994 when a new Competition Act was passed and the authority restructured.
In 2003, the agency was moved from Oslo to Bergen
, along wit six other directorates and inspectorates which were move out of Oslo, in a program initialized by Victor Norman, Minister of Government Administration and Reform of the Conservative Party. It cost 729 million Norwegian krone
(NOK) to move the seven agencies. An official report from 2009 concluded that the agencies had lost 75 to 90% of their employees, mostly those with long seniority, and that for a while critical functions for society were dysfunctional. No costs reductions had been made, there was no significant impact on the target area, and there was little impact on the communication between the agencies and the ministries. In a 2010 report, Professor Jarle Trondal concluded that none of the agencies had become more independent after the move, despite this being one of the main arguments from the minister. Norman successor, Heidi Grande Røys
of the Socialist Left Party
, stated that the moving had had an important symbolic effect on the target areas, and that she did not see the lack of advantages as a reason to not move similar agencies later.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
Government agency
Etat
Etat is a Norwegian state-, county- or municipal agency. An Etat is a subdivision of the administration, which has been given responsibility for a special area. An agency does not have a board of directors, but it does have a director, appointed by the subordinate organization. Normally decisions...
responsible for managing the Competition Act of 2004, including regulation
Regulation
Regulation is administrative legislation that constitutes or constrains rights and allocates responsibilities. It can be distinguished from primary legislation on the one hand and judge-made law on the other...
s imposed through the European Economic Community
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
. This includes regulating cooperation
Cooperation
Cooperation or co-operation is the process of working or acting together. In its simplest form it involves things working in harmony, side by side, while in its more complicated forms, it can involve something as complex as the inner workings of a human being or even the social patterns of a...
that hinders competition
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
, misuse of a dominant market position and control of buy-outs and mergers. The authority is based in Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
.
History
Competition regulation in Norway dates back to the break-out of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
when merchants made large profits maximizing the prise of necessary goods. To counter this, the authorities regulated the prise and availability of food through rations. On July 21, 1917 the Norwegian Price Directorate was created to regulate the Norwegian market. The present name came in 1994 when a new Competition Act was passed and the authority restructured.
In 2003, the agency was moved from Oslo to Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
, along wit six other directorates and inspectorates which were move out of Oslo, in a program initialized by Victor Norman, Minister of Government Administration and Reform of the Conservative Party. It cost 729 million Norwegian krone
Norwegian krone
The krone is the currency of Norway and its dependent territories. The plural form is kroner . It is subdivided into 100 øre. The ISO 4217 code is NOK, although the common local abbreviation is kr. The name translates into English as "crown"...
(NOK) to move the seven agencies. An official report from 2009 concluded that the agencies had lost 75 to 90% of their employees, mostly those with long seniority, and that for a while critical functions for society were dysfunctional. No costs reductions had been made, there was no significant impact on the target area, and there was little impact on the communication between the agencies and the ministries. In a 2010 report, Professor Jarle Trondal concluded that none of the agencies had become more independent after the move, despite this being one of the main arguments from the minister. Norman successor, Heidi Grande Røys
Heidi Grande Røys
Heidi Grande Røys is a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party. She became Minister of Modernisation in 2005, renamed to Minister of Government Administration and Reform since 2006 in the second cabinet Stoltenberg. She was replaced by Rigmor Aasrud in 2009.-References:...
of the Socialist Left Party
Socialist Left Party (Norway)
The Socialist Left Party or SV, is a Norwegian left-wing political party. At one point one of the smallest parties in Parliament, it became the fourth-largest political party in Norway for the first time in the 2001 parliamentary election, and has been so ever since...
, stated that the moving had had an important symbolic effect on the target areas, and that she did not see the lack of advantages as a reason to not move similar agencies later.