The Political Parties Act (2005, amended 2015) is the main law regulating the financing of political parties in Norway.

There are some limits on the private income of political parties in Norway. There are bans on donations from foreign interests and anonymous donors. There are only bans on corporations that are partly owned by the government and no bans on donations from trade unions. There are no limits on the amount that can be donated to parties.

There is public funding available for political parties and it is allocated on the basis of the share of votes in the previous election and the representation in the elected body. There are no conditions on how that funding may be spent. There are no provisions on subsidized media access but there is indirect public funding available in the form of tax relief.

For regulations on spending there are no bans on state resources being used in favour or against a political party or candidate and there are no limits on what parties and candidates can spend.

Parties are required to report on their finances. Reports must disclose finances in relation to the election campaign, the identity of anonymous donors and must be made public. Reports are overseen by the Political Parties Act Committee and the Party Auditing Committee. There are sanctions for those breaching the provisions of the law in the form of fines, the loss of public funding, forfeiture and sanctions under the criminal law.

Norway’s Ministers and MPs face the same disclosure requirements based on the Register of Member’s Appointments and Economic Interests (2012). These include real estate that is not for private use, providers of cash or movable assets, outside employers, and business interests that exceed on percent of a company’s total capital. Civil Servants’ only disclosure requirement is informing the superior in case of a possible conflict of interests during decision-making. This is part of the Public Administration Act (1967). In addition, Ministers, MPs, and Civil Servants must disclose any position obtained within the year after leaving public service. Family members are not included in any disclosures.

All officials make their declarations ad hoc whenever a change occurs. In case of non- or late-filling, Ministers and Civil Servants face fines while no sanctions are specified for MPs. Declarations by Ministers and MPs are received by the Register of Member’s Appointments and Economic Interests with no specification of a verifying or enforcement body. For Civil Servants on the other hand, the Quarantine Committee serves as depository body, while the superior serves as an enforcement body. The statements made by Ministers and MPs are made publicly available on the Parliamentary website within 20 days. No such rule applies to Civil Servants.

(Note: The Head of State is a monarch and thus exempted from conflicts of interests laws.)

Norway’s Constitution (1814, last amended 2014) forbids the Head of State, who is a Monarch, to hold another public office. The Ethical Guidelines for the Public Service (2005, last amended 2006) make restrictions for Ministers and Civil Servants. These include accepting gifts, practicing second jobs that are incompatible with the interests of the state, and participating in decisions which affect private interests. It is up to future employers to include a clause on conflicts of interests in the employment contract of a retired public official. According to the Ethical Guidelines for Members of the Storting (2016) and the Guidelines on Gifts for Members of the Storting (2016), Members of Parliament are subject to some restrictions.

The Head of State, Ministers do not face any sanctions by law in case of violations. Administrative sanctions can however be stipulated for Civil Servants as to the Civil Service Act (1983, last amended 2015) and administrative and penal sanctions can be stipulated for MPs. Accordingly, an enforcement body to ensure these regulations in practice is only specified for Civil Servants, namely the Hiring respective authority. The Head of State and Ministers do not have an agency to turn to for guidance on conflicts of interests. Meanwhile, the Register of Members of the Storting’s Appointments and Economic Interests is responsible for providing guidance to MPs.

Norway's Constitution (1814) provides the foundation for the country's freedom of information framework, while the Freedom of Information Act (2006, amended 2015) lays out the implementing measures. The FOI law applies to (a) the state, the county authorities and the municipal authorities, (b) any other legal person in cases where it makes individual decisions or issues regulations, and independent legal person in which the state, county authority or municipal authority has an equity share that gives it more than half of the voting rights or has the right to elect more than half of the voting members. However, the FOI law does not apply to the parliament or the judiciary.

Specific exemptions to disclosure are outlined in the aforementioned FOI law, Act No. 10 relating to Protective Security Services (the Security Act, 1998), Act No. 31 relating to the processing of personal data (Personal Data Act, 2000), and other laws. However, there is a public interest test whereby exemptions to disclosure may be overridden in cases where the public interest outweighs the prohibition on disclosure.

Appeals may be filed with public authorities. There is no appeals process through an independent non-judicial mechanism, such as an information commissioner. The FOI law does not include a judicial appeals mechanism, but administrative law provides that an action concerning the validity of an administrative decision can be brought against the body that made the decision in the final instance.

Following an appeal under the FOIA, a court may decide to levy compulsory fines on an agency for the failure to provide information. However, there are no enforcement or oversight bodies tasked with managing implementation. 

The Norwegian public procurement system is regulated by the Procurement Act (1999) and further regulations are laid down in the Public Procurement Regulation (2006) and Utilities Regulation (2006), Defence and Security Regulation (2013) and the Public Procurement Act of 2016. There is no independent public procurement body in Norway.

The lowest minimum thresholds for conducting a public procurement tender are:

▪         NOK  1,100,000 (ca. EUR 115,000) for goods

▪         NOK  1,100,000 (ca. EUR 115,000) for works

▪         NOK  1,100,000 (ca. EUR 115,000) for services

The minimum number of bidders is 3 for restricted procedures (5 if above the EEA threshold) and 3 for negotiated procedures and competitive dialogue. The minimum submission period is 35 days for open procedures, 30 days for restricted procedures and 30 for negotiated procedures from dispatch date.

There is some preferential treatment for SMEs as there are limits on minimum yearly turnover set in contracts above the EEA threshold and some sustainability criteria (e.g. EMAS) can be considered during the tendering process. There are several options for bid exclusion: not meeting tender requirements, outstanding tax or social security liabilities, no submission of request to participate, conviction for certain crimes (participating in criminal organisation, money laundering, criminal offenses of professional conduct), and bankruptcy. Bids can be also excluded because of abnormally low bid prices.

In the bid evaluation phase, there are conflict of interest restrictions on the composition of the evaluation committee. However, no form of independence of  the contracting authority is mandated for the evaluation committee.

It is not specified whether there is a payable fee in case of an arbitration procedure, and whether court decisions are published.