Last Week in Denmark (13.11 - 20.11) Episode 40 Year 2
Write for us; Beware of Black Friday; Mortgage loans
Editor HQ
The fourth language within the “Last Week in Denmark” family has arrived. From now on, you will be able to stay updated about the latest developments in Danish society (and not only) in Spanish. You can become a subscriber here. Spread the word within the Spanish-speaking communities.
Who is the amazing team behind the Spanish edition? “We are a team of 4 translators and 2 proofreaders from different Spanish-speaking countries living in Denmark that have come together to bring you the Spanish version of Last Week in Denmark.”
Our team:
Maria Fuentes, our managing editor from Colombia. Master’s degree student in Development and International Relations. She loves cooking, hiking and writing.
Yamel Moisés, one of our translators from Mexico. European Sales Manager for American Hotel and the Lodging Educational Institute and the National Restaurant Association.
Francisca Reyes, our translator from Chile. Midwife. She joined LWID to bring the news closer to the Spanish speakers living in Denmark.
Ariadna Tagliorette is a professional translator from Argentina. Former English teacher. She has been traveling the world since 2014, and can proudly say that she has been to 15 countries (and counting). However, Aarhus has been her home since 2016.
Macarena Macri, our proofreader, is a doctor specialized in neurology and medical translator from Argentina. She moved to Denmark 9 months ago. The language barrier that she encountered when moving to Denmark inspired her to be part of LWID to help the team in spreading the relevant information for newcomers.
Ignacio Talavera, proofreader. Originally from Madrid (Spain), he studies a master of Computer Science in Aarhus.
Call to action: If you think more internationals should be reading this newsletter, please consider becoming our ambassador for a day. Your role? Spread the word about us to fellow internationals and help them sign up.
If you have access to a printer and don’t mind taking some flyers with you, you can download the file from here.
New contributing editor and call for submissions: Carolyn Yates has joined us as a contributing editor and will work with volunteer writers to publish regular columns. Find out more about writing for us in Carolyn’s note at the end of this newsletter.
Danish Politics HQ
Government Negotiations (Week Two)
The temporary child allowance (an extra child benefit given to families where one or both adults are on kontanthjælp) will lapse on 1 January 2023. Despite the fact that the former government agreed in the summer to extend the subsidy, the law proposal was removed once the elections were called. 12.200 families receive the temporary child allowance. The red parties are putting pressure on Socialdemokratiet to keep the promise and extend the subsidy.
The leader of Nye Borgerlige, Pernille Vermund keeps trying to convince Radikale Venstre to betray the red parties and join a blue government. This is a strange situation considering that the two parties are like “cats and dogs”.
Political analysts are saying that there is a good probability for a broad government (over the center) made around Socialdemokratiet and Venstre, after two weeks of negotiations. The only attempt for a red-blue government was in 1978 and it ended as a failure after 14 months. They say it is likely to have a new government before Christmas.
The New Parliament
Søren Gade from Venstre is the new president of the Danish Parliament. This is a gesture from Mette Frederiksen to show the liberals that she is ready to welcome them into government. He will have the same salary as the prime minister (138.997 DKK per month), plus an apartment in Copenhagen and a car with a driver. The president of the Parliament is the second most powerful person in Denmark.
Together with the Presidium of the Folketing, the president ensures that the legislative work takes place according to plan and that the members of the Folketing have the best framework for their work. There are four vice-presidents in the Presidium (Leif Lahn Jensen - Socialdemokratiet; Jeppe Søe - Moderaterne, Karsten Hønge - SF; Karina Adsbøl - DD).
The first elected member of the Parliament to leave their mandate is Karen Ellemann from Venstre (sister of the liberal leader Jakob Ellemann). She got a job as the secretary general for the Nordic Council of Ministers. She has been a member of the Danish Parliament for 15 years.
Post-elections drama
The youth wing of Nye Borgerlige (the far-right libertarians) proposed that only people with a minimum of 10 years on the labor market or with a higher education should be allowed to have access to free fertility treatment. Currently, the law gives women under 41 years old free fertility treatment, if they need it and if they don’t have any children.
The Parliament will vote again on lifting the immunity of Morten Messerschmidt, the leader of DF. Why? Because he got re-elected as a member of the Parliament and therefore regained immunity from being prosecuted. There is a court case waiting for him, regarding fraud and forgery perpetrated while being a member of the European Parliament.
In the past 50 years, 27 members of the Danish Parliament have lost their immunity. Immunity protects a politician from being prosecuted. The last one before Morten was Thomas Danielsen (Venstre) who lost it because of speeding (30 km above speed limit). Other lost it because of racism (Jesper Langballe from DF in 2010), pedophilia (Flemming Oppfeldt from Venstre in 2004), corruption (Peter Brixtofte from Venstre in 2003), hitting a pedestrian while driving (Karen Jespersen from Socialdemokratiet in 1994) and the list continues (mainly driving-related situations).
Danish Economy HQ
According to a study made by Danske Bank, consumption has been reduced by 9,8% in October compared to the same month last year. We buy less from supermarkets (2% less), from clothing and shoes stores (12-17% less) and we see fewer movies at the cinema (36% less) to give a few examples. The age group that most reduced their consumption is 55 to 64 years olds (6%). This is a good trend as one of the ways to reduce inflation is to buy less.
Black Friday: In a time when we need to limit consumption to reduce inflation, spending money on Black Friday or Cyber Monday is just a bad idea. Be careful as there will be many promotions for a lot of products you don’t actually need (stores are trying to get rid of unsold stock) and there’s a lot of fraud going around (buying products that will never arrive). Read here the advice of a consumer economist.
As the interest rates for most of your loans have increased, you should consider shopping around for a better deal. You can use the application Mybanker to compare between the different offers that the banks provide. You should know that the increase in interest rates is unequal between the different banks - f.ex. while Nordea increased with 0,75%, Danske Bank increased with 1,25%. Also make sure to look at the ÅOP (annual costs as a percentage) before you choose a loan as that includes also the bank fees. P.S - You can negotiate all the bank fees. Remember they want you to switch, so you have the power.
Mortgage loans: The high inflation and interest rates has determined many people to restructure their loans. Why? If you have a fixed-interest mortgage on your home, you can take another loan with a higher interest rate instead and cut part of the remaining debt. This also means accepting a higher interest rate until the market calms down. Have a talk with your bank advisor about it. For example, if you convert a fixed-loan of 1 million DKK with 1% interest rate into a 5% interest rate, you can cut 238.000 DKK from the debt. However this only works if you plan to pay your loan faster and/or the interest rates will fall in following years.
Hidden discounts for your property tax: The tax authorities are planning to remove the “hidden” discounts that you didn’t know you had and you have four weeks to complain from the moment you get a new evaluation on your eBoks. Put your address on this link and find out if you have any hidden discounts.
Online scams regarding rental properties: Unfortunately, more and more young people fall in the trap of online scammers that take their deposit and then disappear, before handing the keys to the apartment/house. Visit the place before transferring the money, ask for a photo identity card from the person showing you the apartment (not a yellow card - that can be easily stolen from someone else), check who owns the apartment and avoid sharing too much personal information.
According to experts, it is important to correct the advance tax statement (forskudsopgørelsen) this year. Why? To get the right amount of tax deductions. For example, if you restructure your mortgage loan, you pay a higher interest rate for which you can obtain tax deductions.
There are two tax statements: annual tax statement (Årsopgørelse) and advance tax statement (Forskudsopgørelse).
The annual tax statement comes in March and it is an overview of the year that passed. For example, in March 2023, we will get the 2022 tax overview. This tells you if you paid too little, just enough or too much.
The advance tax statement is like a budget for the next year (in our case 2023). You correct the information that the tax authority (SKAT) has in order to get the right amount of tax deductions from January 2023.
Pressure to end the “aconto” practice: The Consumer Council (Forbrugerråd) has called upon the energy companies to stop the practice of making the customers pay for a “predicted consumption” instead of the actual consumption. Indeed, you get your money back at the end of the year if you have consumed less, but you shouldn’t act as a bank for your energy company. The “aconto” practice is from the olden days, when someone needed to go and read the electricity meter manually.
Christmas Help: 12% more applications for the Blue Cross Christmas Aid compared to last year. 9.700 families have applied for support. If you cannot afford Christmas for your children, you can apply for help here.
Daily Life in Denmark HQ
Ukrainian community: 30.807 Ukranians received a resident permit under the “special law” since its implementation, according to the Danish Agency for Immigrants. 35% under 18 years old and almost 70% women. Top five locations - Copenhagen (2.593), Aarhus (1.625), Aalborg (1.223), Viborg (1.004) and Odense (898).
Winter tires: In Denmark it is recommended to put on winter tires (while it is mandatory in neighboring countries - Sweden and Germany) after the first frost. Unfortunately, 327.000 drivers didn’t bother to change their tires last year. Winter tires have a better grip in frost, snow and ice.
The Tesla problem: Most of the Tesla models are installed with all-around video cameras that record continuously, even when the car is parked. However, many citizens are not happy to be filmed or photographed without their permission and therefore asked the Danish Data Protection Authority to intervene. They informed them that there is a European case against Tesla led by the Dutch Data Protection Authority.
Healthcare
COVID vaccine: From 15th November, you can buy a booster COVID vaccine from the providers listed under the vaccination page here, if you are outside of the groups covered by the public vaccination program. The final price is discounted.
Antibiotics: The consumption of antibiotics fell significantly during the past years. General practitioners (family doctors) prescribed 30% less antibiotics compared to 2015. For children under 4 years old it fell by 51%. This is good news as there is a global fight to reduce antibiotic consumption as more and more bacterias become resistant due to overuse.
10.000 young people (18 to 24 years old) are on the waiting list for a free psychologist. The average waiting time is 26 weeks. The annual budget for the free psychologist scheme is 75,7 million DKK. Each psychologist gets 140.000 DKK to offer free treatment to 10-12 young people yearly.
What happens after death? Your belongings get shared by the ones left behind or are distributed based on your will. The Danish Courts Agency launched a new online portal called “Skifteportalen” that should make easier to calculate the assets of a person that passed away.
Climate
Denmark’s methane problem: Last year, Denmark pledged to reduce methane emissions by 30% until 2030. Methane is one of the most harming greenhouse emissions. Since then, Denmark came up with only two small initiatives that can reduce the methane emissions by 4%.
The first initiative is to stop routine flaring.
The other one is to limit the methane leaking from biogas plants.
No initiatives have been taken with relation to agriculture which is the cause of 80% of the methane emissions in Denmark.
143 billion DKK to help Indonesia’s green transition: Denmark is part of a coalition led by US and Japan that will offer grants and loans to Indonesia in order to help them on their path away from being a coal-dependent country.
Culture and religion
A painting from 1932 made by Asger Jorn (famous Danish painter) was found on the back of another Asger Jorn painting. The painting was unknown to the curators and it seems to be one of the first paintings made by Asger.
Olga Ravn (Danish author) got included by Times magazine into their 100 must-read books in 2022 list with the book “The Employees”. The book is a science-fiction novel and it was nominated for the International Booker Prize. The setting is a workplace on board a spaceship that encounters a new planet.
Sport with Jelimir Vlastici
Denmark is in the Women's Handball European Championship final for the first time in 18 years. In the first semi-final of the day, Denmark faced Montenegro. After a hard fought 60 minutes, the Danes emerged victorious, winning 27-23. In the other semi-final, Norway showcased a convincing victory over France, 28-20. Looking back at the 2004 final, we have the same opponents, duelling to see who will emerge the European Champion. 18 years ago, Norway outscored Denmark by two goals. The final will take place on Sunday, 20 November, at 20:30.
In preparation for the World Cup that will kick off this Sunday, here you can find a list of useful Danish football phrases that might come in handy at your water cooler break, or if you just want to impress your Danish friends.
Local news
Frederikshavn: The local gymnasium will send the HF students starting from August 2023 to do half of a day of practical work (every two weeks) at the nearest healthcare institute or elderly care facility.
European Union HQ
The COP27 (Climate Summit) in Egypt has been extended by one day as the countries present are still negotiating if rich countries should pay for the poorer ones that are experiencing the effects of climate change. The European Union proposed a Global Climate Disaster Fund, but wants the US and China to also contribute financially, among others.
China claims to still be a developing country and wants to avoid acknowledging any responsibility for the climate change crisis.
The US is quiet about the proposal.
Announcement Board
On Thursday, we participated at the event “Recruiting International Talent” organized by International House North Denmark. There we had the chance to listen to the keynote speech made by Nicklas Pyrdol (talent management advisor) about how Danish recruiters look at International applications. If you have 20 minutes, skip the video to minute 3 and give it a go. You will not regret it.
International House North Denmark invites you to seminars in Aalborg (29 November from 14:00 to 16:15 on Linkedin, CV and cover letter) and Online (13 December from 14:00 to 16:15 on the same subjects).
International House Copenhagen calls the international students pursuing an education in the region of Copenhagen to apply for the program “Head Start” before the 13th of December.
Green Friday in Copenhagen: On the 25th of November (14:00 to 20:00) you can get free stuff (clothes, furniture, books, etc.) at Trianglen in Østerbro.
A note from our new contributing editor
“Hej! I’m Carolyn Yates, an expat from England who moved to Denmark earlier this year. I’ve joined the team to help find new writers and publish columns about a range of subjects for the international community.
I’ve worked in content for many years, having started my career as a journalist and moved into marketing and digital communications. I’ve always loved to write and edit, and I’d like to hear from anyone who’s interested in contributing to Last Week in Denmark.