Register of Members’ Interests

Background and purpose

The Register of Members’ Interests is a public register set up by the Storting. It contains information on the MPs’ economic business interests, directorships and outside employment. The register was first set up in 1990 as a voluntary arrangement, and has also been available for Cabinet Ministers to use.

There are very few restrictions on what kind of appointments or outside employments an MP may have during his/her time in the Parliament. Neither are there restrictions on an MP’s right to receive gifts that arise from his/her position as an MP - with the obvious exception of unlawful activities such as bribery or corruption.

The purpose of the register is to encourage transparency and thus accountability towards the voters rather than to reveal potential corruption or to survey a Member's total or partial income or assets. Its intention is to provide information about any directorship, pecuniary interest or benefit received by a Member which might be thought by others to influence his or her actions in Parliament. In other words, the aim of the register is to clarify any connections that may imply a personal interest or economic dependency on the part of the MP.

Almost all MPs and Cabinet Ministers have participated in the register since it was set up. From October 2009 the register will be available on the Storting’s web-site. Until then, it is available on demand in a looseleaf version from the Storting’s Tabling Office.

Registered interests

Although being a voluntary arrangement, an MP who decides to join is obliged to register all interests mentioned in the regulations set up for the register. The MPs themselves are responsible for the information reported to the register, and the information is regularly updated in accordance with their reports.

In brief, the interests that are to be registered are:

1. Directorships – both remunerated and unpayed – in private or public companies or in NGOs.
2. Remunerated employment or engagements
3. Independent business, such as legal work or farming
4. Sponsorship or financial or material support
5. Sponsored visits abroad
6. Gifts or benfits worth more than NOK 2000 if these in any way arise from the MP’s position as such
7. Land and real etstate of considerable value used for business purposes
8. Shareholdings that exceed 1 per cent of the company’s capital
9. Financial agreement with previous employer
10. Employment contract with future employer