Norwegians have a high degree of trust in their police service thanks to the Nordic Model, this year’s EuroCOP conference has heard.
The Nordic model is the combination of social welfare and economic systems adopted by Scandinavian countries; it combines features of capitalism, such as a market economy and economic efficiency, with social benefits, such as state pensions and income distribution.
80% of the Norwegian public have a high degree of trust in the police, the Norwegian Police Union’s Morton Mossin told delegates at the conference in Torremolinos, Spain, this month (November).
Mr Mossin said: “Every year we perform a research paper and we ask everyone in Norway, ‘Do you trust the police? And if so, why? What needs to be done better?’ 80% trust the police and have a very high degree of trust in the police. So we’re very privileged. This trust spills over to public sector; it spills over to our workplace as well.
“The most important thing of making this Nordic model of cooperation work, is that we trust each other. When we trust each other, we trust that, even if you’re an employee or an employer, you want the best for the organisation, for the family life, for everything you do in your entire life.”
The Nordic model relies on cooperation between the Government and the public and it fosters far greater levels of equality, Mr Mossin said.
“The effect of the Nordic model is; high quality of life, high employment rates, equal opportunities for all, and small differences in income”, Mr Mossin told the annual meeting.
Norway is the third happiest country, the conference heard, with the US and UK not even ranking in the top 10.
Mr Mossin said: “Europe has an unemployment rate of around 10%, while in Norway we are stable at around 3% and even through the pandemic we managed to keep very low unemployment. And when we speak about equal opportunities for all, we have free healthcare and free education which is something very few countries have. And we have a very strong maternity and paternity leave, which is not only in favour of the mothers, but also the fathers. We have holiday entitlement of course, great pension plans, minimum wage, universal disability insurances, and unemployment benefits.”
Norway has seen far fewer strikes than neighbouring Denmark, Finland and Sweden, and it has a strong public sector, the conference heard. However, in 2009 12,000 police officers went on strike in Norway, and 3,000 officers committed to collective action to demand the right to negotiate working time regulations.
You can see the full presentation from Mr Mossin here.