Last Week in Denmark (05.03 - 12.03) Episode 9 Year 3
Rent assistance; Collective agreement for construction; Telephone fraud
Editor HQ
Nominate a project for the European Citizens Prize 2023: If you know a project that promotes European cooperation, mutual understanding, the promotion of European common values and fundamental rights, and solidarity between European citizens, then you should nominate it here by the 31st of March.
The prize is a medal of honor from the European Parliament.
Call to action: Do you want to join the team responsible for the Polish edition of Last Week in Denmark? We are looking for translators, proofreaders, and promoters to support our goal of providing the Polish community in Denmark with relevant news and information in their native language. If you’re interested, fill out this form and we’ll get back to you.
Temporary volunteer position: We are looking for a Romanian speaker that can understand written Danish (to a medium level at least) to join our team for a limited period of time (one month at best). The project is called “Stories that improve the image of Romanians in Denmark” and within it, the volunteer will assist in the curating process. Write to (narcis1george@gmail.com) if you have at least 10 hours weekly available.
Danish Politics HQ
New Laws and Regulations
Temporary rent assistance for tenants in public housing: 350 million DKK will be spent this autumn to support people that have difficulties in paying rent due to the inflation. The housing associations will apply for the money and distribute it further.
We don’t know yet who qualifies for rent assistance and for how long it will last.
Minors can spend up to 48 hours at a crisis center without parental permission: A majority in the Parliament has decided to allow children and youth crisis centers to welcome young people running away from home without asking for the permission of their parents.
Some young people run away from home because of psychological or physical violence or neglect from parents.
Young people aged 14 or older will be able to stay at the centers 14 days instead of just 7.
The political arena
New minister of economy: For more than a month now, the second-most powerful man in Denmark, Jakob Ellemann Jensen, has been on sick leave. He claims that he will return to his position at some point. However, until then, the government decided to reshuffle some positions. The former minister of economy, Troels Lund Poulsen, will take over as the minister of defense, and his position will be taken over by Stephanie Lose, the president of the South Denmark Region.
Stephanie Lose is the vice-president of Venstre (Liberals) and her late entrance into the government could be seen as preparation in case Jakob doesn’t return from sick leave, to crown her as the new leader of the liberals.
New far-right movement: You wouldn’t believe it, but it seems that Nye Borgerlige, DF, and DD-Inger, are not far-right enough for some people in Denmark. As we wrote in previous editions, Nye Borgerlige's change of leadership led to an internal civil war between factions. The “conspirationist” faction decided to leave the party and establish their own movement.
The movement is called Frit Borgerligt Fællesskab and it’s a gathering of people that believe in a lot of conspiracies.
The king is dead, long live the king: Only a month ago, Nye Borgerlige chose a new leader to succeed Pernille Vermund. After weeks of internal civil war, the national board of the party excluded the new leader (Lars Boje Mathiesen) from the party.
Why? Lars Boje asked for 350,000 DKK from party funds to be transferred to his private account plus a 4 year contract with 55,000 DKK in monthly honoraries.
Nye Borgerlige has only 3 members of Parliament left after they lost 3 so far.
The national board excluded Lars Boje during the night. He woke up to the announcement that he is no longer their leader.
The former leader, Pernille Vermund, decided to come back in the leader position.
Lars Boje might transfer to Liberal Alliance, probably together with the libertarian faction within Nye Borgerlige.
Danish Economy HQ
7.6% inflation rate in February: 7.7% inflation rate in January. Unfortunately, the inflation rate only fell by 0.1%. The speed at which inflation is falling is too slow, which worries economic experts. The aim is to reach an inflation rate of 2%. Until that happens, banks will continue to raise interest rates in an attempt to make us spend less money.
New property tax assessments: If you are a homeowner, you will receive a new property tax assessment in September 2023 (unless you were among the initial group that already received it). Based on the new evaluation, you will find out how much property value tax (Ejendomsværdiskatten) and land tax (Grundskylden) you will need to pay in 2024.
There seem to be major problems with such a huge task (re-evaluating 1.7 million private homes) and there are grounded fears that there will be mistakes.
Unfortunately, even if there will be mistakes, you will not be able to complain or have them corrected until 2025.
The evaluation you will receive in September is preliminary. In 2025, you will receive the final evaluation. However, in 2024 you will pay based on the preliminary.
Why are there issues? BBR (Building and Housing Register) is full of errors, as homeowners forget to report changes to their homes and properties or even when they did report, information got lost. Only the info in BBR before 1st January 2022 is taken in consideration for the evaluation.
New collective agreement for construction workers: The trade union 3F and the Danish Industry have reached an agreement for the next two years. However, the agreement still needs to be voted on by the union members before it can go into effect.
165,000 people work in the construction sector.
The minimum salary will increase by 4.5 DKK per hour in 2023 and 2024.
Pension contribution distribution will change as the worker will pay 2% less which will be covered by the company.
1.8% more in the “fritvalgsordning”.
For newcomers to Denmark, their salary will increase by 25 DKK per hour for the first four months of working in construction. If they are not offered “decent accommodation” during that time, then the salary increase will continue for 12 months.
If the national collective agreement is approved then the workers will also be able to negotiate locally for even more money in salary raise.
Interest rate deduction for bank loans: If your yearly interest expenses are under 50,000 (single) or 100,000 (as a couple) DKK, then you’ll get back 33.6% during the tax recalculation in March. If they are over that amount, then you get back 25.6%. So if your interest rates have increased in the past year, at least part of it will be returned by the state.
The market
Home prices are going down for the ninth month in a row: From January to February, the average price has fallen by 0.6%, for the ninth month in a row. Last year, prices went down somewhere between 8.4% and 9.1%. Economists are expecting prices to continue going down for the rest of 2023. If you have enough cash, it might be a perfect time to buy a new home.
79 DKK bus tickets for long-distance rides: A new competitor entered the low-cost bus transportation market, called Fleet. They will compete for market share with Flixbus and Kombardo Expressen. You will be able to purchase tickets on the Fleet Bus app starting on March 30. Fleet is an initiative by Viking Bus.
Danish ammunition factory will be reopened: The war in Ukraine has pushed the states of the European Union to start investing in the production of military equipment, weapons, and ammunition. The revival of this market presents an opportunity for entrepreneurs who have ideas within the sector. The ammunition factory Denex near Frederikshavn will be reopened after it was closed in 2020. The factory was established in 1676, and it was Denmark’s only producer of ammunition for centuries.
Daily Life in Denmark HQ
Elderly people are exposed to telephone fraud: In 2022, the number of cases of telephone fraud against the elderly increased by 55%. 1845 cases in 2022.
If your credit card is misused or you clicked on the wrong link and inserted your card details there, then you can recover part of your money back. However, if you are manipulated over the phone to open your bank account and transfer money yourself, then you cannot recover them.
The police advise that if you are called and asked to provide personal information (f.ex. login to online banking) or to make a money transfer or to hand your card over to someone that comes at your home, close the phone immediately.
80,000 to 150,000 people in Denmark practice digital self harm: They cut themselves and post pictures in closed groups. They create fake profiles and make fun of themselves on social media. There are three types of digital self-harm.
Digital self-bullying - auto-trolling, when you write harmful comments from a fake profile on your real profile.
Self-baiting - when you use yourself as bait for hateful comments.
Digitization of physical self-harm - uploading images of physical self-harm.
It can quickly develop into suicidal behavior and suicide attempts.
If you are among these people or you know someone, help can be found here - Cyberhus, Eating disorder and self-harm association, GirlTalk, Headspace, Life Line, Children’s Telephone.
Healthcare
Did you check your moles? Mole cancer is the most frequent form of cancer among people aged 15 to 34 years old. Only 35% of the young people get checked at least once every three months to see if their moles have changed shape or color. If you discover it in time, you can prevent death.
The Cancer Society advises to watch out for asymmetry, uneven or jagged edges, multiple colors, a diameter of over 6 mm or general growth of the mole. According to them, you should check your moles at least once every three months. Use this website for more advice on how to check.
Climate
30% of international waters will become protected areas from 2030: Today, only 1% of international waters are protected from fishing, sailing routes and seabed exploration (aka mining). The countries of the United Nations entered into a historical agreement to protect the world’s oceans.
European Union HQ
The European Union will reduce energy consumption by 11.7% until 2030: The EU Council and the EU Parliament have agreed to reduce energy consumption across the European Union. There is an opportunity for ideas that can help us to achieve this goal.
Which countries have the most strikes in Europe and what impact does it have on the economy? (read in English from Euronews)
Opportunities for self-development
Do you have an 18 year old at home? Tell them to apply for DiscoverEU and get a free Interrail ticket. They can travel by train for free for up to 30 days around Europe. You can apply here from the 15th of March.
Announcement Board
Online, 16 March: Is your tax return a mystery to you? Is your tax declaration written in a language you do not speak? Taxes are an inevitable element of society, no matter where you live, so allow this webinar to help make this part of your life a little easier. Sign up for the Danish Tax System webinar here (waiting list).
Online, 16 March: At this event, they will guide you through the Danish housing market and what you should look out for when considering renting a place to live or buying cooperative housing. We will present different kinds of financing options and describe the various areas in Copenhagen. Sign up here.
Aalborg, 22nd March: Join the Job Fair at Gigantium, where you can meet your next employer, get your CV checked and have a professional photo taken for free.
Copenhagen, 23th March: Get highly useful and amusing tips on Danish workplace culture, its unwritten rules and expectations when Kay Xander Mellish shares observations from her new book “How to work in Denmark”. Register here.
Aalborg, 24th March: Join the event F*ckUp nights vol.10 where you can listen to 4 amazing speakers who will share their biggest failures in careers and life! Stay after the show to network with them!
Nota Bene: If you live in the North Denmark Region, you can get a free consultation with International House North Denmark in regards to your job search. Book a meeting with them at info@ihnd.dk More info here.
International media about Denmark HQ
Oldest Inscription of “Odin” resets beliefs about Norse mythology.
Denmark opens an undersea graveyard for imported CO2.
How Denmark’s Welfare State became a surveillance nightmare.