Integrated management of Norway’s obligations under different social security instruments. The Committee notes the reports on the application of Conventions Nos 102, 118, 128 and 130, which together formed the annual report of Norway to the Council of Europe on the application of the European Code of Social Security (ECSS) and its Protocol. The supervision of these regional instruments is entrusted to the Committee in accordance with the arrangement made between the Council of Europe and the International Labour Organization under Article 74(4) of the ECSS. The resulting alignment of the reporting obligations under the ECSS and ILO Conventions Nos 102, 121, 128, 130 and 168 pursued the objective of reducing the administrative workload for governments and avoiding duplication of reports. For this purpose, the report form on the ECSS expressly stipulates that, if a government is bound by similar obligations as a result of having ratified Convention No. 102, “it may communicate to the Council of Europe copies of the reports it submits to the International Labour Office on the implementation of this Convention”. Where certain Parts of Convention No. 102 (for Norway – Parts III, V, IX and X) have ceased to be applicable due to ratification of the corresponding Parts of the more advanced Conventions Nos 128 and 130, governments may equally communicate to the Council of Europe copies of their reports on these Conventions. Conversely, the information provided by the Government in its reports on the ECSS and the relevant provisions of the European Social Charter is regularly taken into account by the Committee in assessing the application of ILO social security Conventions. To facilitate the integrated management of Norway’s obligations under different social security instruments, the Committee refers the Government to the coordination tables, reporting timelines and relevant comments of the supervisory bodies compiled in the ILO Technical Note on the state of application of the provisions for social security of the international treaties on social rights ratified by Norway, published in the country profile on the NORMLEX database.

Consolidated reporting on social security Conventions. Besides the reports, the Government has supplied its reply to the questions raised in the Committee’s previous conclusions on the ECSS and the publication of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs on The Norwegian Social Insurance Scheme, January 2015. In order to analyse this information within a unified legal framework for a comprehensive social security system, the Committee has consolidated it in a single report covering all branches of social security included in Convention No. 102 and the ECSS. Where appropriate, it was completed with the information extracted from the MISSOC database and Norway’s previous reports on the ECSS and ILO social security Conventions supplied during the period 2006–16. The Committee has not taken into account the reports prior to 2006 as the information contained in them is likely to be outdated. The resulting Consolidated Report (CR) thus contains all the relevant information provided by Norway over the last decade on the application of these instruments and permits to greatly improve the quality of reporting in terms of the completeness of the information available, coherence across different schemes and benefits providing protection, and the efficacy of the regulatory framework governing the national social security system.

With regard to the completeness of the available information describing the Norwegian social security system, the analysis of the CR reveals certain persistent information gaps which do not permit to assess compliance with the indicated provisions of the Conventions, as is the case for example with Article 69 of Convention No. 102 and corresponding provisions of other Conventions defining situations which may lead to the suspension of benefits. Not only these provisions are highlighted in the CR, but relevant questions of the report forms on the ECSS and ILO Conventions are included as a reminder to complete the CR with the requested information. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the fact that, since 2006, its reports do not contain any information on the following provisions:

Convention No. 102 – Part II (Medical care), Articles 8, 10(1)(3) and (4), 11 and 12; Part VI (Employment injury benefit), Articles 32, 34, 35, 37 and 38; Part VII (Family benefit), Articles 43 and 44; Part XIII (Common provisions), Articles 69 (for Parts II, III, V, VI, VII, IX and X), 70 (for Parts II and VII), 71 and 72 (for Part II);

Convention No. 128 – Articles 13, 25, 31, 32 and 33;

Convention No. 130 – Articles 7, 9, 13, 15, 16, 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32;

Convention No. 168 – Articles 7, 18, 24, 25, 26 and 30.

With respect to the clarity of the information provided, particularly as regards rules and elements taken into account for the calculation of the level of benefits, in many instances it requires technical clarifications from the national experts and concrete references to the corresponding provisions of the national regulations. In order to facilitate the experts’ dialogue on these highly technical issues which depend upon the context in which they are used, the statements in question are highlighted and appropriate marks and questions are entered by the Committee directly in the text of the CR. In view of the significant volume (120 pages) and the complexity of the CR covering all branches of the national social security system, it is also equipped with user friendly navigation signs and summary tables. The information included by the Government in its reports but which is not directly relevant to the legal obligations under the respective Conventions, is reproduced in the annexes to the CR. The Committee attaches the Consolidated Report to the present conclusions and asks the Government to complete it following the indications inside with the missing information, technical clarifications, provisions of the national legislation and statistics.

The Committee raises the most important issues in the request addressed directly to the Government.