The government proposed closing the pension scheme for fishers to new members from April 1, 2026, and phasing out the arrangement over time. The committee was split: the Labour Party and Conservative Party backed the proposal, while the Progress Party, Socialist Left Party, and Red Party opposed it. The opposition majority argues that fishers still need a statutory pension scheme and has urged the government to establish a broad working group to modernize it instead.
AI-generated summary · Model: Claude Haiku 4.5 · Generated: 14 May 2026
These are the proposals in the document, not decisions. See the votes for the outcome.
Section 1 shall read: Anyone registered on list B in the register maintained under section 4 of this act is covered by this pension scheme, except as provided in section 2. Persons with no premium weeks in the scheme as of April 1, 2026, are not covered by this act.
Section 2, item 2, shall read: 2. Persons who have not reached age 50 as of April 1, 2026, are exempt from coverage under item 1(a) until they reach age 62.
Section 3, new item 3, shall read: 3. The right to voluntary membership under items 1 and 2 does not apply to persons exempt from coverage under section 1, second sentence.
Section 6, item 2, new second sentence shall read: The pension age is 62 for persons who have not reached age 50 as of April 1, 2026.
Section 7, item 3, new second subsection shall read: For entitlement to child allowance, the claim must be filed before April 1, 2026. Persons receiving child allowance on that date shall continue to receive it for so long as they draw a pension and the child is under age 18. If the pensioner's child dies before age 18, the allowance is paid through the calendar month in which the death occurs.
Section 8, first clause, new second sentence shall read: Persons who have not reached age 50 as of April 1, 2026, shall receive old-age pension from the calendar month following the month in which they turn 62.
Section 8, third clause, second sentence, is repealed.
Section 21, first and second clauses, shall read: Any person who has not earned 750 premium weeks by age 60 may claim refund of paid mandatory and voluntary premiums, less a deduction for the first 75 premium weeks. Persons who have not reached age 50 as of April 1, 2026, may first claim refund upon reaching age 62. The same refund right applies to a spouse and children of a covered person who dies before age 60. A spouse and children of a covered person who has not reached age 50 as of April 1, 2026, have the right to refund if the covered person dies before age 62.
The Storting urges the government to establish a broad, tripartite working group with balanced representation to present a proposal modernizing the fishers' pension scheme along the lines of the current maritime workers' pension scheme, making it mandatory, cost-neutral, and contribution-based while preserving the state guarantee. The scheme must serve both employees and self-employed members and align with the approved pension reform. The working group must work efficiently to present an agreed modernization proposal for the fishers' pension scheme to the Storting in spring 2026.