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Norway's Parliament Approves 7.7% Salary Increase for Members Despite Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic
In an unexpected move, the Norwegian Parliament, or Storting, has approved a 7.7% increase in remuneration for its members in 2022. This decision comes after a freeze on salary increases since 2019 and amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The remuneration of a member of the Storting was set at 987,997 Norwegian Kroner per year as of May 1st, 2019. The proposed increase for 2022 will raise this figure to 1,064,318 Kroner per year.
The Remuneration Committee, a separate body responsible for making annual recommendations on parliamentary remuneration, proposed this increase following the agreement on the general wage increase of 3.7% (with an expected inflation rate of 3.3% in Norway for 2022).
The increase was supported by the first vice-president, Svein Harberg of the Conservative Party, the second vice-president, Nils T. Bjørke of the Centre Party, and the third vice-president, Morten Wold of the Progress Party.
Despite the Labour Party's initial desire to maintain the freeze until the evaluation committee's final conclusions in January 2023, the Storting decided otherwise. The decision may be linked to cost of living adjustments, collective wage agreements, or statutory rules governing parliamentary pay which resumed after the freeze period.
It is worth noting that the remuneration of the President of the Storting was the same as that of the Prime Minister: 1,735,682 Norwegian Kroner per year. The prorated time increase in remuneration will be 5.1% in 2022, with adjustments applying in May.
The detailed justification for the specific increase in 2022 is not directly provided in the search results. However, related information suggests that such increases often involve periodic increments reflecting inflation and wage growth indexes.
As the economic conditions and inflation pressures have changed since the 2019 freeze, it is likely that restoring or increasing pay was justified. The pandemic-induced salary freezes or cuts in many countries were initially a public solidarity measure. Once economic conditions stabilized or inflation rose, some pay increases resumed to compensate for cost of living increases.
Therefore, the 7.7% increase in 2022 was probably approved to align parliamentary salaries with inflation or general wage growth after a temporary freeze was lifted, despite the ongoing pandemic's economic uncertainty.
For more authoritative or specific details about the Norwegian Parliament remuneration decision in 2022, consulting Norway’s official parliamentary or government financial reports would be necessary, as the current search results do not cover this topic directly.
The increase in remuneration for members of the Norwegian Parliament, known as the Storting, was approved despite ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and is a part of policy-and-legislation related to general news. This decision, which raises the annual salary to 1,064,318 Kroner per year, is justified by economic conditions and inflation pressures that have changed since the 2019 salary freeze, and it may be linked to cost of living adjustments, collective wage agreements, or statutory rules governing parliamentary pay.
