Central crisis management- and 86

PHOTO: NATO

6. CENTRAL CRISIS MANAGEMENT AND COOPERATING

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same applies when the Minister of Defence requests on important readiness issues, or when the Minister of Justice and Public Security requests a discussion of questions related to readiness against terrorism.

The negotiations in the Committee are secret unless otherwise expressly stated.⁸⁷

6.1.2 The Government

The Government has the supreme responsibility for the emergency preparedness in Norway, including the overall political responsibility for both the control and management of preventive readiness efforts and individual crises that arise.

The Government deals with a number of readiness cases, both through the budget process and the discussion of other issues in Government conferences and in the Government’s security committee. According to our parliamentary system, each Cabinet Minister has the constitutional responsibility for his or her sector, within the laws and appropriations given by the Storting. This means that the individual Cabinet Minister also retains his or her constitutional responsibility in a crisis situation.

6.1.3 The Government’s Security Committee If the Prime Minister so wishes, a question may be dealt with in the Government’s Security Committee, rather than in plenum by the Government. This will primarily be applicable when the question is of defence- or security policy importance, and the information is of such a confidential nature that it cannot be discussed by the Government in plenum. The composition of the Committee may vary slightly from government to government, but the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Justice Minister, the Defence Minister and the Finance Minister are normally permanent members of the Security Committee.⁸⁸

6.1.4 Office of the Prime Minister The Prime Minister leads and coordinates the work of the Government. These are tasks that the Prime Minister will also have in a crisis situation.

The Prime Minister will also play a central role in respect of external communication, contact with other countries’ heads of government, international organizations, the parliamentary leaders in the

87 The Storting's Rules of Procedure of November 12, 2013, section 16.

88 Report to the Storting No. 29 (2011-2012) onCivil Protection, Chapter 6.1.

Storting, the Royal Family etc. The Prime Minister’s involvement in each crisis will depend on the nature and scope of the crisis etc. In crises that fall within the scope of emergency legislation, the Prime Minister is delegated special powers in situations where it is unavoidably necessary to make decisions to safeguard the interests of society.

The Office of the Prime Minister must plan for the Prime Minister and the Government to be able to perform their duties also in crisis situations and to enable the office to carry out its duties as the Secretariat for government conferences, the Government’s Security Committee and for the King in Council. The office must be able to provide administrative support, secretariat functions and contribute with advice.

6.1.5 The Ministries

Each Government Minister also retains his or her constitutional responsibility in a crisis situation. In the event of crises, Ministries must obtain situation reports from their own operational activities and be able to identify and make decisions on neces-sary actions within their own area of responsibility to deal with the particular situation, including elaborating the basis for decisions and providing overriding policy clarifications where necessary.

The ministries are to ensure that operational agencies have the necessary powers, and assess the need for international assistance in their own sector. Furthermore, the ministries must be able to deal with communication with the media and the public. This work must be coordinated with other ministries and especially with the ministry that is designated as the Lead Ministry.

6.1.6 The administrative apparatus for coordination of national crisis management The administrative apparatus for national

crisis management is an extension of the main principle of readiness in Norway (the principle of responsibility). The ministry that is responsible for a sector on a daily basis is also responsible for contingency planning and actions in a crisis situation. This structure applies in principle to all types of crisis situations, from crises in peacetime, such as natural disasters and pandemics, to security policy crises and war. The administrative coordination apparatus in connection with national crisis management is based on three

main elements: The Emergency Council, the Lead Ministry and the Emergency Support Unit.

The Emergency Council

The Emergency Council is the highest

administrative coordination body at the ministerial level, and it is established to reinforce the central coordination.⁸⁹ The Council has five permanent members: the Secretary to the Government at the Prime Minister’s Office, the Secretary General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Permanent Undersecretaries of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MOJ), the Ministry of Health and Care Services and the Ministry of Defence (MOD). If necessary, the Council may be extended to include all the other ministries and representatives of subordinate agencies and environments with special competence.

The main function of the Emergency Council is to contribute to national crisis management by:

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Securing strategic assessments.

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Considering questions related to the Lead Ministry.

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Ensuring the coordination of actions implemented by different sectors.

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Ensuring the coordination of information to the public, the media and others.

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Ensuring that questions that require political clarification are quickly presented to the political leadership of the ministries or the Government, including the clarification of powers and budget.

Any of the ministries can take the initiative to convene meetings of the Emergency Council.

The Lead Ministry leads the Council’s meetings.

The Council is led by the MOJ unless otherwise determined. The Emergency Support Unit is the permanent secretariat for the Council. A system has been established for regular, periodic meetings of the Council for the purpose of discussion, clarification of the main readiness and crisis management challenges, and for the review of relevant events and exercises.

The Lead Ministry

The MOJ is designated the permanent Lead

89 Royal Decree of September 1, 2017 on Instructions for the Ministries’ work on civil protection (The Civil Protection Instruction), Chapter VII.

Ministry in the event of civil national crises, unless otherwise determined.⁹⁰ The Ministry’s responsibility for coordination, and for the majority of the civilian rescue- and readiness resources in Norway, means that the MOJ will always have a central role in most cross-sectoral national crises.

In a number of situations, and in the case of events that primarily affect one particular sector, it would be natural for the relevant ministry to have the lead ministry role, rather than the MOJ. In the event of a security policy crisis and armed conflict, the MOD and the MFA, by virtue of their sector responsibility, will have a special responsibility for dealing with defence-, security- and foreign policy issues. The Emergency Council is granted authority from the Government to decide which ministry should be the Lead Ministry in a particular crisis, and the Council will decide whether the MOJ or another ministry should be the Lead Ministry.

In the event of doubt or disagreement in the Emergency Council, the choice of Lead Ministry is decided by the Prime Minister in consultation with the affected Ministers

The designation of a Lead Ministry does not entail changes to constitutional responsibilities, and all Ministries retain the responsibility and decision-making authority for their respective sectors.

In a crisis situation, the Lead Ministry will carry out the following:

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Develop overall situation reports, based on information from other ministries,

subordinate agencies and the media situation, amongst others.

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Identify and evaluate the need for measures at the strategic level.

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Provide for the necessary coordination of measures within their own area of responsibility, and with other ministries and agencies.

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Arrange for coordinated information to be provided to the media and the population in general.

The Emergency Support Unit

The Emergency Support Unit is organised as part of the MOJ, and is intended to support the Lead Ministry and the Emergency Council

90 Ibid, Chapter VIII.

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in their coordination functions and to act as the permanent secretariat for the Emergency Council. The Emergency Support Unit has competence in strategic crisis management as well as infrastructure capabilities. This includes support for analyses, the preparation of overall situation reports and the establishment of shared situational awareness. Mobile technical solutions form part of the infrastructure.

The Norwegian Civilian Situation Centre is organized as part of Emergency Support Unit and is the permanent point of contact for information to and from the MOJ during extraordinary events and crises.

6.2 Cooperation- and readiness

In document Support and Cooperation (sider 68-71)