Legal Expert Assistance

Project overview

Assignment Description:

The consultant shall provide legal assessments and prepare concrete legal documents that Sigma2, the board, and the Ministry of Education and Research can use as a basis for decisions. The work shall build upon existing legal assessments for the program and other completed assessments. It shall not be repeated.

The assignment covers four themes:

Regulations

Corporate Forms

Governance Models

Tax and Duty Rules

• Update the assessment of whether the conditions for extended in-house operation (procurement regulation § 3-1 / procurement act) are met when ownership is transferred from Sikt to KD and new user groups are added. The assessment shall cover the 80 percent requirement, the control criterion, and how this can be documented and followed up continuously.
• Assess the state aid regulations (EEA Agreement Art. 61 and GBER Art. 26), including the distinction between economic and non-economic activity, requirements for accounting separation, market-based pricing for businesses, and the threshold for "related" economic activity.
• Clarify other frameworks affecting the model, such as the Public Administration Act, the Archives Act, the Security Act, and regulations for personal data and the processing of sensitive and security-classified data, to the extent they affect the governance and contract model.
• Specify legal frameworks and authorization grounds for the usage agreements for the four user groups: research organizations, public administration with R&D activities, other public service provision, and businesses.
• Assess whether a state-owned limited company directly under KD is still the correct affiliation. It shall be briefly compared with current alternatives, such as state enterprises, special law companies, administrative agencies with special powers, and foundations. The assessment shall consider governance, responsibility, financial freedom of action, in-house operation, VAT, and tax.
• Assess when and how a commercial subsidiary can be established if the economic activity exceeds what state aid regulations permit. The assessment shall cover group structure, internal pricing, and consequences for in-house operation and duties.
• Prepare a proposal for new statutes for the national provider. The statutes shall cover purpose (including that the company does not have profit as its purpose), board composition and appointment, general meeting, any matters requiring owner consent, and dividend restrictions.
• Prepare a structure and main terms for usage agreements (partnerships, framework agreements, individual purchases, and experimentation) and cooperation agreements with the NRIS partners, so that they align with the in-house operation, state aid, and duty assessments.
• Investigate whether the national provider will be subject to duties and whether the company must be registered in the Value Added Tax Register. The investigation shall distinguish between subsidies (basic grant), partnership contributions, and remuneration for services.
• Assess the two models from the governance document: Model 1 with a distinction between dutiable and non-dutiable activity and proportional deduction according to VAT Act § 8-2, and Model 2 where the entire business is dutiable. The assessment shall cover the right of deduction, adjustment of input VAT on capital goods, and economic consequences for the higher education sector. Any other models shall also be considered.
• Assess whether there is a basis for or need for a VAT compensation scheme. The assessment shall form the basis for dialogue between KD and the Ministry of Finance.
• Map how existing cooperation between the higher education sector and state-funded providers handles VAT when the provider also serves customers outside the higher education sector. The mapping shall show what Sigma2 can build upon.
• Prepare an application for a binding advance ruling (BFU) to the Norwegian Tax Administration, Tax Administration Act Chapter 6, and assist in the dialogue with the Norwegian Tax Administration.
• Assess tax liability according to the Tax Act, including whether the company meets the conditions for tax exemption for institutions not having profit as their purpose (Tax Act § 2-32). The assessment shall also consider how user fees, commercial activity, equity building, and a potential subsidiary affect this.

Requirements

Expert Consultant. The consultant shall personally meet requirements K1–K7 and have professional responsibility for all deliverables. The assignment shall not be divided among several individuals with small shares or limited responsibility. If needed, the consultant may seek assistance from colleagues in their own organization, for example, to quality assure the work or elaborate on specific specialized areas.

• General IT competence, including understanding of IT service delivery, operating models, and IT agreements
• IT competence within Sigma2's area of responsibility: high-performance computing (HPC/AI) and large-scale data storage as services, including how computing and storage capacity are allocated, measured, and priced
• In-depth knowledge of existing cooperation between the higher education sector and state-funded providers, and of the VAT issues that arise when such providers also serve customers outside the higher education sector. Knowledge of and experience with corporate forms and associated governance and financing models for high-end IT companies serving the research sector, including models combining public basic funding with user fees
• In-depth knowledge of tax and duty regulations in Norway and the EU/EEA: the Tax Act, the Value Added Tax Act, and the Tax Administration Act, duty treatment of cross-border services and EU funding, and state aid regulations (GBER)
• The consultant is a lawyer or jurist with at least 10 years of relevant experience, in the expert consultant category. Absolutely good written communication skills in Norwegian, and the ability to present to the board and ministry.
• Experience with procurement law, particularly in-house operation and extended in-house operation
• Experience with applications for binding advance rulings from the Norwegian Tax Administration

Project details

Application deadline: 10.11

• Estimated scope: approx. 400 hours. This corresponds to about 0.5 FTE over 5 months. The scope is an estimate and not a commitment.
• Desired start: December 2026
• Duration is approx. 5 months, with an option for extension if needed, for example, for follow-up of the BFU application.
• Work location: Primarily remote work, with physical meetings in Trondheim as needed.
• Start: flexible
• Duration: 4-6 months
• Remote: remote
• Location: Norway, NO
• Languages: Norwegian