The Board agreed that Norway has made meaningful progress in implementing the 2016 EITI Standard.

Board decision

The Board came to the following decision regarding Norway's status:

The Board agrees that Norway has made meaningful progress overall in implementing the 2016 EITI Standard. The Board’s determination of Norway’s progress with the EITI’s requirements is outlined in the assessment card below.

The EITI Board agreed that Norway has gone beyond the requirements in the EITI Standard on Requirements 2.2, 2.3, 2.6, 3.1, 4.8, 5.1 and 6.3. The Board further agreed that Norway has made meaningful progress in meeting requirements 1.3, 1.4 and 7.4 and inadequate progress in meeting requirements 1.5 and 7.1. The major areas of concern relate to civil society engagement (#1.3), governance of the multi-stakeholder group (MSG) (#1.4), work plan (#1.5), public debate (7.1) and outcomes and impact of implementation (#7.4).  

Accordingly, the EITI Board agreed that Norway will need to take corrective actions outlined below. Progress with the corrective actions will be assessed in a second validation commencing on 4 December 2018.  Failure to achieve meaningful progress with considerable improvements across several individual requirements in the second Validation will result in suspension in accordance with the EITI Standard.  In accordance with the EITI Standard, Norway’s MSG may request an extension of this timeframe, or request that Validation commences earlier than scheduled.

The Board’s decision followed a Validation that commenced on 1 July 2016. In accordance with the 2016 EITI Standard, an initial assessment was undertaken by the International Secretariat. The findings were reviewed by an Independent Validator, who submitted a Validation Report to the EITI Board. The MSG was invited to comment on the findings throughout the process. The MSG’s comments on the report were taken into consideration. The final decision was taken by the EITI Board.

Corrective actions and strategic recommendations

The EITI Board agreed the following corrective actions to be undertaken by Norway in accordance with the Board’s decision of 25 October 2017 on Norway’s application for mainstreaming and request for adapted implementation. Progress in addressing these corrective actions will be assessed in a second Validation commencing on 4 December 2018:

1. In accordance with Requirement 1.3, Norway is required to ensure that civil society is fully, actively and effectively engaged in the EITI process. Invitations to annual stakeholder meetings should be open to all and enable a dialogue about the data disclosed through the mainstreamed procedures approved by the EITI Board.
    
2. In accordance with Requirement 1.4, Norway should ensure that stakeholders have an opportunity to engage in dialogue about the data disclosed at www.norskpetroleum.no.
    
3. In accordance with requirement 1.5, stakeholders, through annual meetings, are able to provide input on Norway’s mainstreaming of EITI implementation, in accordance with Norway’s mainstreaming application as approved by the EITI Board.
    
4. In accordance with Requirement 7.1, Norway should ensure that information provided through the procedures for mainstreamed disclosures is comprehensible, actively promoted, publicly accessible and contributes to public debate.
    
5. In accordance with Requirement 7.4, Norway is required to review the outcomes and impact of EITI implementation on natural resource governance. In accordance with the request for adapted implementation approved by the EITI Board, Norway should ensure that the annual stakeholder meetings provide an opportunity to engage in dialogue about the data disclosed through mainstreamed disclosures.

Progress in addressing these corrective actions will be assessed in accordance with Norway’s mainstreaming implementation and request for adapted implementation as approved by the EITI Board. The MSG is encouraged to consider the other recommendations in the Validator’s Report and the International Secretariat’s initial assessment, and to document Norway’s responses to these recommendations in the next annual stakeholder meeting.

Background

Norway has been an EITI supporting country since 2003 and became the first OECD country to commit to

implement the EITI in 2007. Norway’s decision to implement the EITI was primarily intended to demonstrate solidarity with other implementing countries. A secondary aim for the government was to demonstrate that the Norwegian extractive sector was transparently managed. Norway was accepted as an EITI candidate on 11 February 2009, and the Norway EITI multi-stakeholder group (MSG) was formally established by Royal Decree on 22 June 2009. Norway was designated compliant under the EITI Rules in March 2011.

The Validation process commenced on 1 July 2016. In accordance with the Validation procedures, an initial assessment was prepared by the International Secretariat. The MSG was invited to comment. Comments were received from the MSG. The assessment was then reviewed by the Independent Validator, who prepared the Validation Report. The MSG was invited to comment on the report. Again, comments were received from the MSG.

The Validation Committee reviewed the case on 22 May 2017. Based on the findings above, the Validation Committee agreed to recommend the assessment card and corrective actions outlined below.

The Committee also agreed to recommend an overall assessment of “meaningful progress progress” in implementing the 2016 EITI Standard. Requirement 8.3.c. of the EITI Standard states that:

ii.    Overall assessments. Pursuant to the Validation Process, the EITI Board will make an assessment of overall compliance with all requirements in the EITI Standard.

…

iv.   Meaningful progress. The country will be considered an EITI candidate and requested to undertake corrective actions until the second Validation.

The Validation Committee agreed to recommend a period of 12 months to undertake the corrective actions. This recommendation takes into account that the challenges identified are relatively few and seeks to align the Validation deadline with the deadline for the next (2016) EITI Report.