The Norwegian Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs plays a key role in supervising the Norwegian Parliament itself. It reviews resolutions made in Parliament, making sure they are implemented accordingly; enacts legislation regarding electoral matters; and proposes alterations to the constitution.
Even though the American and Norwegian political systems are fairly different, the head of the committee, Anders Anundsen, sees great value in learning from the U.S. Congress. “Norway has its Office of the Auditor General, but as the country has had substantial growth in, for example, our international aid budgets, we have not seen a subsequent increase in our supervisory resources,” Anundsen told norway.org, emphasizing the importance of the committee’s work related to resolutions made in parliament.
“Seeing how hearings are carried out in Congress, how aid funds are followed up in The World Bank, and visiting the U.N. in New York, will hopefully give us inspiration regarding ways to constantly improve our own supervisory system. A system can always get better, and although we are different, we hope to spend this week being inspired by and learning from similar institutions in the U.S.,” said Anundsen.