Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949 (No. 94) - Norway (Ratification: 1996)

The Committee notes the observations of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), received together with the Government’s report. The Government is requested to provide its comments in this respect.

Article 2 of the Convention. Insertion of labour clauses in public contracts. The Committee refers to its previous comments, in which it requested the Government to keep the Office informed of any new developments in the procedure initiated by the Surveillance Authority of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) against Norway with regard to Regulation No. 112/2008 of 8 February 2008, as amended, and to provide information on the manner in which the Regulation gives effect to the Convention. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the EFTA Surveillance Authority decided to close the case in December 2012, stating that “taking into consideration the development of this case since its opening in June 2008, in particular the amendments adopted to Regulation No. 112/2008, together with the increase in the number of universally applicable agreements, the scope of the infringement has been significantly reduced. The Authority considers it therefore appropriate, at the present stage, not to proceed further with this case. This decision is, however, without prejudice to any future decision by the Authority to open a new case on this issue or on a related issue. Such a decision could be taken, for example, in the light of new information concerning the implementation, interpretation or application of the national measures under consideration, receipt of a new complaint, or developments in EEA or EU law.” The Government indicates that, while there have been no amendments in the Regulation itself during the reporting period, due to the revision of the public procurement legislation to implement EU Directive 2014/23 of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts, the Regulation’s scope of application has been extended to cover such contracts as of 1 January 2017. Moreover, the Government adopted new legislation which as of 1 January 2014 gives the Labour Inspection Authority competence to supervise and enforce the contracting authority’s compliance with the Regulation. The Government adds that a recent evaluation of the Regulation showed that, while most contracting authorities include labour clauses in their contracts, many, particularly smaller municipalities, fail to follow up on compliance with the clauses once they have been inserted into the contracts. In its observations, the LO expresses concern that the threshold for application of the Regulation is very high, and urges application of the Convention to public procurement contracts under this threshold, and that it be applied in all sectors to prevent social dumping. The LO also states that the Government has not increased the Labour Inspection Authority resources and asks that it do so to strengthen compliance. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated detailed information on the manner in which Regulation No. 112/2008 is applied in practice, and to communicate a summary of the evaluation concerning the Regulation.