Last Week in Denmark (06.11 - 13.11) Episode 39 Year 2
Negotiations for government continue; Lower interest rates; 4-day working week
Editor HQ
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Danish Politics HQ
Government Negotiations (Week One)
Morten Messerschmidt, the leader of DF, declared that their role in the negotiations is to convince Mette Frederiksen not to form a government with Radikale Venstre (which is the complete opposite of DF) and Lars Løkke’s Moderaterne.
Until a government is decided, new laws cannot be implemented. There will be no proposals for laws, nor debates on existing proposals. This situation affects a law that was supposed to be implemented on the 1st of December that would have reduced the minimum salary requirement to hire people from outside the European Union.
The New Parliament
Nye Borgerlige already lost one of the six mandates obtained, after Mette Thiesen left the party and became independent. She left the party due to an internal conflict between her boyfriend and a party employee.
The number of non-Danish ethnic (with both parents from immigrant backgrounds) members of the Parliament has dropped to only two (Samira Nawa from Radikale Venstre and Christina Olumeko from Alternativet). There is also Sólbjørg Jakobsen from Liberal Alliance (who was born in the Faroe Islands), but she refused to be seen as a non-Danish ethnic. There used to be five in 2019 (Fatma Øktem from Venstre, Samira Nawa from Radikale Venstre, Naser Khader from Konservative, Halime Oguz from SF, and Sikandar Siddique from Frie Grønne).
Post-elections drama
Marianne Karlsmose, the leader of Kristendemokraterne has resigned and called on the party to give up on the dream to pass the 2% line to enter Folketinget. She said that the party should focus on local and regional elections. The party obtained 0,52% of the votes.
Three law professors made an unbiased assessment of Mette Frederiksen’s role in the mink case. Their conclusion is a 30 pages memo based on the Mink Commission's report which says that there is no reason for Mette to be convicted.
Danish Economy HQ
Inflation reached 10,1% in October. That’s the increase in prices since October 2021. In September it was 10%. The financial experts expect that inflation is on its way out and we should see a significant decrease by the end of 2022 / beginning of 2023.
Good news from the USA: The inflation there is falling for the fourth month in a row. It has decreased to 7,7% from 9,1% in June. This means that interest rates for loans should also decrease in the following months, as Danish interest rates are closely linked to US Central Bank interest rates.
274 bankruptcies: That’s how many companies closed their doors in October. 1505 people have lost their jobs due to the bankruptcies. A 6,1% increase compared to September. Why? The VAT loans. 45% of the companies that closed had unpaid VAT loans.
14% cheaper to buy apartments in Copenhagen: The price of apartments in Copenhagen has fallen to the same level it was in March 2021. The price will probably continue to fall in the following months.
4 day working week: An experiment in the Esbjerg municipality with 520 employees from the Jobcenter has been a success. Now the municipality is looking to expand the program to other public employees. It’s important to mention that the employees still work 37 hours per week.
According to an expert in the labor market, there are two trends: the 4-day working week and a reduction of the working hours to 30 per week. Why? More people are asking for flexibility, freedom of choice (like working from home) and shorter working week so that more time can be spent with the family or pursuing hobbies.
From the 15th of November, you can complete your tax advance statement (Forskudsopgørelsen). It’s worth looking at it if you got a new job or your salary has changed; you worked more from home than usual; bought or sold a home; have changes in income type; business-related changes.
Compensation from SAS: 370.000 people that had their flights canceled or postponed in the summer will not get their compensation as promised “in a few weeks”. It’s more likely until the end of the year or further. If you want to get help in obtaining your compensation, you can always contact Legal Travel Beagle (a legal consultancy service specialized in passenger and travel rights).
Daily Life in Denmark HQ
Flags in Denmark: A man from Kolding has been sentenced for raising the US flag on the flagpole of his property. However, due to the long processing time (case since 2018) he escaped without paying a fine. It was a special case and the high court had to look at an executive order from 1915, that says it is illegal to arbor foreign nations' flags in Denmark. You are allowed to raise the EU, UN, Greenlandic, Faroese and the Nordic countries flags.
Repopulation campaign: Ringkøbing-Skjern municipality is actively trying to convince Germans to move there. They recently hosted an event in German about the benefits of living in Denmark for 120 guests. There are already 500 Germans living in the municipality.
Nicotine consumption causes permanent brain damage for young people, according to Vidensråd for Forebyggelse (Knowledge Council for Prevention). Although the number of young smokers has decreased significantly, they have moved to other nicotine products like e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco, snuff or nicotine pouches. 30% of young people (15 to 29 years old) use a nicotine product daily.
Bird flu is back: The Danish Food Agency raised the threat level from low to medium on Denmark being hit by a strong wave of bird flu. If Denmark gets hit, the price for bird meat will increase and it will be less available on the market.
14 heroes from Sjælland: The Central and West Zealand Police awarded 14 citizens with a sum of money for their noble actions. As a rule, citizens are nominated for the title by a police officer who has been involved in an incident, where the first assessment is that a citizen has made an extraordinary effort and should therefore be honored. A few examples.
A 21-year-old woman gave first aid to a driver in a car accident (saved life).
A 52-year-old man saved his neighbor from a house fire.
Two 15-year old boys saved an old man by alerting the authorities.
Two young men (18 and 19) saved a drunk man from drowning.
Climate
Hot October: Last month’s average daily temperature landed at 11,7 degrees, 2,3 degrees higher than the normal average temperature (9,4 degrees) in the past 30 years. One of the four warmest Octobers in 148 years (all since 2000). We also had 20% less rain and ten hours more sunshine. Other EU countries also had record heat levels for October.
Biodegradable fishing nets: A group of nine international students from University of Copenhagen have invented a biodegradable fishing net made out of spider silk, sea anemones and mussels. The invention won the international competition iGEM, known as the world championships in synthetic biology for students.
Culture and religion
Six nominations for 3 Danish films: One of them, “Holy Spider” directed by Ali Abbasi has been nominated for four potential awards at the European Film Awards 2022. The movie is also Denmark’s Oscar candidate for 2022. The two other films are “Vanskabte Land” and “A House Made of Splinters”.
Royal Run: The popular race supported by the Crown Prince of Denmark family will be organized in four new locations in 2023 - Herning, Aabenraa, Nyborg and Nykøbing Falster. From the previous locations, only Copenhagen has been chosen again. Sign up and run together with the royals for 1,6 km, 5 km or 10 km.
Sport with Jelimir Vlastici
Denmark secured a late victory over Hungary. After managing to qualify from the preliminary group stage of the Women's Euro 2022 handball competition, Denmark faced Hungary Thursday night in Ljubljana in the main stage. This dramatic confrontation ended with Denmark adding two points to their account, as they won against Hungary 29:27. It was a close game that kept Denmark's dream alive of playing in the semi-finals in Slovenia. The next opponent will be Croatia; and on the 16th of November, Denmark will face Norway, one of the favorites to win the championship.
European Union HQ
15.000 lives: Sacrifices on the altar of climate change. 15.000 people in Europe lost their lives prematurely due to the unusually hot weather this summer, according to the World Health Organization.
8 billion people: On the 15th of November, we will reach 8 billion people on Earth, according to the United Nations. The world population has doubled since 1974. It is expected that we will reach 10 billion people by 2050.
Climate compensation: At COP27 (the yearly world climate conference) in Egypt, the main topic is about the compensations that rich countries need to pay to poor countries that are most exposed to climate change. According to an expert, the industrialized countries are responsible for the largest emissions of greenhouse gasses, and the developed countries acknowledge this, but they are not prepared to compensate for damage.
Announcement Board
Free account for Swap Language: Nichlas Walsted is giving away 100 free accounts for his Danish online learning program Swap Language. Wednesday at 8:30 CET on his Linkedin account.
Nota Bene! We introduced a new category called “Announcement Board” where we include events / opportunities specific for the International Community. Should we include something in here? Give us a message.