Regional reform in Norway

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New fylkes from 2020

The regional reform in Norway is the amalgamation of several provinces ( Fylke ) in Norway , which was adopted by a law from June 2017 and implemented on January 1, 2020 . It was carried out in parallel with the local government reform in Norway , which reorganized the division of local authorities .

procedure

Ongoing discussions from 2002

Before January 1, 2018 there were 19 counties in Norway. These existed roughly in this form since 1844. The only major change after 1844 was the incorporation of Bergen into the province of Hordaland in the 1970s .

The division and the areas of responsibility of the so-called Fylker were discussed for a long time and different approaches were presented. In 2002 in particular, when the provinces lost responsibility for the hospitals, there were major discussions. In 2010, the Stoltenberg II government carried out an administrative reform that adjusted the distribution of tasks. The demarcation of the provinces remained unaffected.

In the discussion about territorial reform, there were experts and politicians who wanted to delete the county level entirely in order to locate the municipalities directly below the national level. This is also connected with the fact that many citizens perceive the Fylkes level as the least important of the three levels and also has the lowest voter turnout in each case. It was hoped that the dissolution of the second level would strengthen the communities. However, it was seen as problematic that many of the tasks carried out by the provinces could not be carried out by the municipalities at all. In 2012 the Sosialistisk Venstreparti (SV) therefore advocated that the 19 Fylker be dissolved, but instead about six regions be created that can continue to take care of these tasks. The two parties Venstre and Kristelig Folkeparti (KrF) published similar plans. Høyre and Fremskrittspartiet (FrP), on the other hand, advocated the division into only two administrative levels during the election campaign for the parliamentary elections in Norway in 2013 .

The Solberg government plans the reform

After the 2013 election, a minority government was formed under Erna Solberg of the conservative Høyre. At first it was not clear whether the government would completely abolish the Fylker level, as announced in the election campaign. In the end, however, a reform and not an abolition of the county structure was sought. The plan for reform was strengthened by a resolution of the Norwegian Parliament Stortings in June 2015. This resolution stipulated that there should continue to be three levels (communes, Fylker and the nation) even after the reform had been carried out. The law was supported by Høyre, FrP, Kristelig Folkeparti (KrF) and Venstre.

In April 2016, the Ministry of Municipalities and Modernization submitted a plan to Storting according to which a new administrative structure should be developed. This new structure should apply from 2020. In the still rather vague report, the formation of about ten larger provinces was targeted. During the reform, it should also be ensured that the national government no longer intervenes so heavily in the administration of local conditions and that the lower levels get more room in legislation. This proposal found a majority in a storting vote in June 2016.

Formation of the Trøndelag Province

On June 8, 2016, the Storting decided to merge Nord- and Sør-Trøndelag into Trøndelag , which should take place on January 1, 2018. The reason for this was that Nord-Trøndelag initiated this merger in spring 2014 and Sør-Trøndelag agreed to it. Both provinces had worked closely together before that. The law finally passed by Storting stipulated that the Fylkesting of Trøndelag should be composed of the two previous parliaments by the 2019 election and that no new elections should take place before that. The experience from this first merger was later identified by the Ministry of Local Authorities and Modernization as a reference for the following.

Adopt the final reform

In April 2017, the Solberg government proposed the merger of several provinces to the Storting. There should be only eleven Fylker. The corresponding law was discussed in Storting on June 8, 2017 and finally passed. This means that the change in the limits on January 1, 2020 was decided. At the same time, it was also voted for a commission of experts to be formed to redefine the areas of responsibility of the Fylkeskommunen .

In August 2017, the decision was made on a support package that grants the new provinces one-time money for the implementation of the merger. 15 million crowns were paid for each county that joins the new one, i.e. 30 million for everyone except the province of Viken , which was awarded 45 million.

In February 2018, the commissioned experts submitted a proposal that provides for an expansion of the area of ​​responsibility of the Fylkeskommunen. In October 2018, the government presented the Storting with a law based on these recommendations. Above all, it was intended that the provinces should be given more responsibility for economic development. Other new competencies include responsibility for non-state airports, partial responsibility for broadband expansion and greater responsibilities in the area of environmental protection and cultural heritage management .

Two months later, in April 2018, the vote on the names of the new provinces followed. The proposals with Viken , Innlandet , Vestfold and Telemark , Agder , Vestland and Troms and Finnmark were accepted. For the latter, the Sami names Romsa ja Finnmárku and Tromssa ja Finmarkku were also determined. Furthermore, a Sami name for the already existing Fylke Trøndelag was determined, namely Tröndelage .

Elections in September 2019

On September 9, 2019, the first fylketing elections were held in which the new borders were used as a division. Thus the elections in the provinces concerned took place before the old provinces were merged.

New division

The provinces of Møre og Romsdal, Nordland and Rogaland as well as Oslo remained unchanged from the reallocation. The island of Svalbard (Spitzbergen), which does not belong to any Norwegian province, is also not affected by the changes. In some cases individual municipalities are transferred to another province.

coat of arms Fylke (from 2020) before Date of the
merger 		further changes
incorporated
municipalities		 outsourced
municipalities
Agder coat of arms Agder Aust-Agder ,
Vest-Agder 		January 1, 2020
Coat of arms of Innlandet Domestic Hedmark ,
Oppland 		January 1, 2020 Jevnaker ,
Lunner
Coat of arms of Møre og Romsdal Møre and Romsdal Hornindal Rindal ,
Halsa
Coat of arms of Nordland North country Tjeldsund
Oslo coat of arms Oslo
Rogaland coat of arms Rogaland
Coat of arms of Troms and Finnmark Troms and Finnmark Finnmark ,
Troms 		January 1, 2020 Tjeldsund
Trøndelag coat of arms Trøndelag Nord-Trøndelag ,
Sør-Trøndelag 		1st January 2018 Rindal ,
Halsa
Vestfold and Telemark coat of arms Vestfold and Telemark Telemark ,
Vestfold 		January 1, 2020 Svelvik
Vestland Coat of Arms Vestland Hordaland ,
Sogn og Fjordane 		January 1, 2020 Hornindal
Viken coat of arms Viken Akershus ,
Buskerud ,
Østfold 		January 1, 2020 Jevnaker ,
Lunner ,
Svelvik

Reasons for reform

The government stated that the reason for the merger was that the new division would meet the challenges facing society, as it would strengthen the role of the provinces. It is namely possible through the larger Fylker to be able to solve the problems that arise together better and to act as a stronger negotiating partner towards the national authorities.

criticism

The reform met with criticism from opponents of centralization. The Senterpartiet (Sp) in particular worked actively against the planned mergers. The party criticizes the government's justification that only larger regions can be assigned more tasks. The new areas of responsibility are not an actual transfer of power and there is basically no need for amalgamations to give the Fylker more power. The Sp also warns that the enlargement of the regions will lead to the services being moved further away from the citizens, thus creating further alienation between the citizens and the county level.

The parties Rødt , Sosialistisk Venstreparti (SV) and Miljøpartiet De Grønne (MDG) also spoke out against the mergers. They said they would try to reverse some of the mergers after the 2021 storting election. The working party (Ap) also opened up to this possibility with a little more reluctance. In July 2019, the party leader Jonas Gahr Støre said that the Troms og Finnmark and Viken association would be reversed from 2021 , if the respective Fylkestinge so wish.

Resistance in Troms and Finnmark

Referendum in Finnmark

Criticism of the mergers is strongest in the province of Finnmark , which was already the largest county in terms of area before it was merged with Troms . The new Fylke Troms og Finnmark will encompass around a quarter of the Norwegian territory. A referendum held in Finnmark in May 2018 ended with 87 percent against, with a turnout of 58 percent. However, since the vote is not legally binding for the national government and the Storting, the merger can still take place. Local minister Monica Mæland testified that the government could not stick to the vote because it had to stick to the storting's decision . In the following, the term forced amalgamation was also used.

In Troms, too, a majority is against the merger of the two Fylker. A survey by Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) showed that around 73% of the citizens of Troms reject the Storting's decision. Overall, however, there is less willingness to fight against the decision. Due to the ongoing criticism from both provinces, the merger process was temporarily paused in August 2018. The aim was that the Storting should decide after its summer break whether it should treat the merger of Troms and Finnmark again and possibly reverse it. Other Fylkesordfører criticized the actions of Finnmark, as maintaining the region with only about 76,000 inhabitants could lead to the government giving all provinces less responsibility because such a small county could not fulfill them.

The Finnmark Fylkesting voted in October 2018 not to send any politicians to the so-called Fylkesnemnda of the new province to prepare for the merger. The national government warned the parliament that this was an illegal act and the local ministry overturned the decision of the local parliament.

Renegotiation in Storting

On November 6th, the Senterpartiet (Sp) presented a legislative proposal in Storting together with the member of the Rødt party . He called for the merger to stop. The opponents of the merger hoped that the KrF would also vote for the repeal of the original law and thus a majority in the Storting would be achieved for the repeal. On December 6th, the vote took place on the law, which did not get a majority. This means that the merger will be pursued further.

On December 4, 2018, the Finnmark Fylkeskommune announced that it was preparing a lawsuit against the state. On December 10th this plan was thrown overboard by the Arbeiderpartiet (Ap) in Finnmark, which is part of the government there. Instead she spoke out in favor of sending members to the Fylkesnemnda .

On June 23, 2020 the Fylkesting von Troms og Finnmark officially asked the Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Modernization to dissolve the province.

Viken

Other mergers were also received with skepticism locally. In Viken, for example, it was criticized that the differences between the Oslo area and the more rural part are too great to make a sensible policy for the new region. In addition, it is the only one of the new provinces that is made up of three old provinces and, with 1.2 million inhabitants, also clearly the most populous. Critics are bothered by the fact that the government's justification for the need for larger regions is invalid in this case: Even without such a far-reaching merger, the already existing Fylker would be more populated than many of the others. In the provincial election in September 2019, the left-wing parties that campaigned for the revision of the merger won a majority in parliament. In the inaugural address, the new county government said that it would hopefully be the last from Viken.

Vestland

The merger of Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane to Vestland also met with criticism, since Hordaland, in which the city of Bergen is located, has about five times as many inhabitants as Sogn og Fjordane. According to some residents of Sogn og Fjordane, the way of life between the two regions is too different.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Kommunal-og moderniseringsdepartementet: Meld. St. 22 (2015-2016). April 5, 2016, Retrieved October 11, 2019 (Norwegian).
  2. ↑ Marie Melgård: SV vil fjerne 19 fylker og med reimbursed the regioner. Retrieved October 14, 2019 (Bokmål in Norwegian).
  3. ↑ 6. Regionalt folkevalgt nivå. June 2, 2015, Retrieved October 11, 2019 (Norwegian).
  4. ↑ Kommunal-og moderniseringsdepartementet: Meld. St. 22 (2015-2016). April 5, 2016, Retrieved October 11, 2019 (Norwegian).
  5. ↑ Nye Trøndelag. (PDF) Erfaringer and lærdom fra en fylkessektivenlåingsprosess. P. 16 , accessed October 11, 2019 (Norwegian).
  6. ↑ Forskrift on the details of the composition of the Nord-Trøndelag area and Sør-Trøndelag area to the Trøndelag area - Lovdata. Retrieved October 11, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Municipal and modernization departments: Nå kan other fylkeskommuner lære av sierendenlåingen i Trøndelag. June 6, 2018, accessed October 11, 2019 (Norwegian).
  8. ↑ Kommunal-og moderniseringsdepartementet: Ekspertutvalg shall be vurdere more oppgaver to the new fylkeskommunene. June 14, 2017, Retrieved October 11, 2019 (Norwegian).
  9. ↑ Økonomiske utbetalinger - region reform. August 21, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2019 (Norwegian).
  10. ↑ Kommunal-og moderniseringsdepartementet: Prop. 65 L (2017-2018). April 6, 2018, accessed October 11, 2019 (Norwegian).
  11. ↑ Region reforms. In: regjeringen.no. October 23, 2018, accessed October 11, 2019 (Norwegian).
  12. ↑ Region reform. In: senterpartiet.no. Retrieved October 12, 2019 .
  13. ↑ NRK: Folkeavstemningen i Finnmark: 87 prosent stemte nei. May 16, 2018, accessed on October 12, 2019 (Bokmål in Norwegian).
  14. ↑ Folkeavstemningen i Finnmark: 87 prosent stemte nei til sierendenlåing from Troms and Finnmark. May 16, 2018, accessed on October 12, 2019 (Bokmål in Norwegian).
  15. ↑ January Harald Tomassen: Stort flertall i Troms og Finnmark mot sammenslåing. March 14, 2018, accessed October 12, 2019 (Norwegian Bokmål).
  16. ↑ NTB Eirik Husøy: Mæland venter med sierendenlåing av Troms and Finnmark. August 20, 2018, accessed on October 11, 2019 (Norwegian Bokmål).
  17. ^ Robert Gjerde: - En tvangssetzungenlåing vil oppleves som et nytt overgrep mot Finnmark. Retrieved October 11, 2019 (Bokmål in Norwegian).
  18. ↑ NTB: Finn Mark Bryter Loven ved ikke å delta i sammenslåing, fastslår departementet. Retrieved October 11, 2019 (Bokmål in Norwegian).
  19. ↑ NRK: Region reforms til Horing i dag. November 6, 2018, accessed on October 11, 2019 (Norwegian Bokmål).
  20. ↑ Amund Trellevik: Stortinget kommer ikke til å reversere sektivenlåing. December 6, 2018, accessed October 11, 2019 (Bokmål in Norwegian).
  21. ↑ Lars Egil Mogard: I dag søker Troms og Finnmark om "skilsmisse". In: NRK. June 23, 2020, accessed on June 24, 2020 (Norwegian Bokmål).
  22. ↑ Thea Rosef: Vil legge ned nye Viken. October 1, 2019, accessed on October 12, 2019 (Bokmål in Norwegian).
  23. ↑ Kjell Magne-Rystad: Viken he regionreformens største tabbe. Retrieved October 12, 2019 (Norwegian).
  24. ↑ Dordi Boksasp LerumSenterungdommen: Eg kjem frå Sogn og Fjordane, ikkje «Vestland». Retrieved October 12, 2019 (Norwegian Nynorsk).