Last Week in Denmark (05.06 - 12.06) Episode 22 Year 2
Summer break; Coalition government; Inflation
Editor HQ
Hiatus: From today, 12th June, Last Week in Denmark will go for the summer break. On Sunday, 17th July, we will be back in your mailboxes. We decided to take this month-long break to have some time to reflect over our internal processes, embark new people into the team and have a development plan for the second part of 2022.
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P.S - If you are a student looking for an internship or an unemployed person looking for a virksomhedspraktik, contact me at narcis1george@gmail.com to join our team this late summer - early autumn. Interesting profiles: digital marketing; video production; writing; social media wizard; graphic design
Ukraine HQ
Refugees
Proposal to change the special law for Ukrainians: The trade unions and several political parties want to amend the “Ukraine law” so that it becomes illegal for employers to hire Ukrainians with a salary lower than what they would pay for their Danish workers. Also, there is a proposal to penalize employers that are currently underpaying their Ukrainian workers.
The minister of employment Peter Hummelgaard considers the “proposal” unnecessary and needs to see more proof of Ukrainians being exploited. Also, he said that “there is a special place in hell” for those who abuse refugees.
Danish Politics HQ
The political game
In an interview, prime minister Mette Frederiksen, said that she is open to the idea of a “coalition government” between red and blue parties for the next four year period.
The current situation of a “one-party government” in which the social democrats rule with the support of the other red parties is not on the table, because one of the red parties, Radikale Venstre (Social Liberals) is against it.
The prime-minister felt that the collaboration with two blue parties (Venstre - Liberals, Conservatives) and two red parties (Radikale Venstre, SF - Socialists) that gave the agreement on defense and the removal of the opt-out on European defense cooperation was a good experience of an effective “red-blue coalition”.
Reactions to the “coalition government” idea
Venstre: The party leader, Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, said that the idea is interesting, but he doesn’t believe that Mette Frederiksen actually wants it. However, Venstre will not accept to join a government led by Mette Frederiksen.
Konservative: The party leader, Søren Pape Poulsen, said “thank you, but no thank you”. They believe that Mette’s idea is only to divert attention from the conclusions of the “Mink Commission” that will come out later this month.
Enhedslisten: The party leader, Mai Villadsen, is very worried about the idea of a “red-blue coalition government” as it means further cuts into the welfare spending and regression in the climate transition.
SF: The party leader, Pia Olsen Dyhr, says it’s a thought experiment and that nothing is impossible.
Moderaterne: The party leader, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, would be happy to join such a government.
Radikale Venstre: The party leader, Sofie Carsten Nielsen, is enthusiastic about the idea of a “red-blue government”. They have lobbied for such an idea for months now.
What does history say?
A red-blue government happened only twice in the democratic history of Denmark.
1978, a Social Democrat - Liberal government that lasted one year.
1993, a Social Democrat - Social Liberal - Christian Democrat government that lasted one year and a half.
Campaign kick-start: In his 5th of June (Constitution Day) speech, the leader of Venstre, has promised that if he becomes prime minister, he will rollback the law on “distribution of places at gymnasium based on parent’s income”. The law has been introduced to avoid elite-only schools.
Moderaterne: 700 delegates of the newly established party met in Vejle to discuss the path forward. Conclusions:
The party is neither red nor blue. They see themselves as a blending, lilla.
They want to break the current divide in Danish politics between red and blue.
They would participate in a Mette Frederiksen-led coalition government.
Political ideas: 6-months obligatory civic duty for young people (to go into the military, to work in elderly care, to do other society-needs tasks); higher tax deduction for people with low income; lower taxes on stocks, start-ups, and investments; close down the regional governments; raise the price of cigarettes to 100 DKK
Minimum-wage Directive: An European-wide agreement has been reached to introduce the minimum salary in all the European Union countries. It’s still a preliminary phase, yet close enough to alarm the Danish trade unions and politicians.
The EU Employment Commissioner, Nicolas Schmit, has guaranteed that Denmark does not need to introduce the minimum wage as we have a very high rate of participation in the collective agreements.
The trade unions fear that if the percentage of people that are members of a trade union continues to drop, then the coverage of the collective agreement will also drop, which can lead to the introduction of the minimum wage.
No changes to the minimum salary are needed for workers from outside the European Union: The current amount is 448.000 DKK/year. The government proposed to lower it to 375.000 DKK/year, to answer the call from the businesses. The opposition aka blue parties proposed to lower it to 360.000 DKK/year. In the end, the two sides couldn’t agree and the amount remained the same.
Danish Economy HQ
Inflation: The consumer prices have increased with 7,4% last month (compared with May 2021). Largest increase since 1983.
Rural house: The Danish Parliament passed a law to help people that want a house in the rural area, but don’t have the money for it. If before the bank could refuse giving you a mortgage loan for a house on the outskirts of Denmark, now the government will ensure that you can get a loan. The law enters into force from 1st July 2022.
The future of SAS: The airline company (founded in 1946 after a merger between the Danish, Swedish and Norwegian state airlines) is in trouble. First, the Norwegian government sold its shares in 2018, now the Swedish government wants to sell its shares and will refuse to infuse new capital into the company. The company has a debt of 20 billion SEK (Swedish Krona).
Ownership of SAS: 21,8% Denmark, 21,8% Sweden, 47,35% private investors, 3,42% Wallenberg Investment, 1,64% Vanguard and other smaller investment funds
SAS share price: It has dropped from 1,57 DKK (2021) to 0,58 DKK today.
Sweden and Denmark have already invested 15 billion SEK during the pandemic to keep the company afloat.
The Danish government announced that they want to save SAS and therefore will buy more shares to increase their share percentage to 30%. Also, SAS’s debt to the Danish state will be forgiven.
Our community
Project
Esbjerg International Day: Join a true celebration of diversity on 13th August in the center of the city. There will be international stands with food and crafts, stage shows and activities for children. Make a weekend mini-vacation out of it and visit also Ribe and Fanø.