Last Week in Denmark (19.02 - 26.02) Episode 7 Year 3
The end of TikTok; New collective agreement; 1 year since the war in Ukraine
Editor HQ
One year has passed since the invasion of Ukraine: For the past 365 days, the brave souls of Ukraine have been fighting for their freedom and our protection. On the 24th of February, the Prime Minister said: “To the Ukrainians that are in Denmark, I would like to say: We will look after you for as long as you need it, and afterwards we will help you rebuild your country.”
Danish Politics HQ
New Laws and Regulations
40,500 vulnerable families with children will receive support from the government: An agreement on how to distribute the 300 million DKK has been reached between the parties in the government and SF, Radikale Venstre and Alternativet.
The request of the far-right parties to discriminate against non-Danish families has been rejected.
A vulnerable family is one where one or both parents are on “kontanthjælp” or “ressourceforløb”. 65,100 children are within such families.
The payment will be 7,500 DKK for the first child, 3,750 DKK for the second and 2,250 DKK for the third. One time, tax free amounts. The amounts will be paid in two installments - one in June and the other in August.
The Danish language test for nurses from outside the European Union has been removed: As part of the two-year emergency plan for the healthcare system, it has been agreed that nurses from outside the European Union should be allowed into the Danish healthcare system without needing to first pass the Danish language test.
20% more anesthetist nurses need to be trained this year compared to 2019.
People on “efterløn” will be able to take work in the healthcare system without affecting their current level of public benefits.
Administrative work in hospitals will be severely reduced.
3% more surgeries this year compared to 2022.
2 billion DKK will be invested to bring down the waiting times back to the pre-pandemic levels until the end of 2024.
Danish Citizenship, Integration and Immigration Laws
37% of the Ukrainian refugees would like to stay in Denmark after the war: The political parties are split on the question of allowing them to stay after the war ends.
Enhedslisten, Radikale Venstre and Alternativet say that those who choose to stay in Denmark should be allowed to do so.
DF, Nye Borgerlige and Danmarks Demokraterne say that everyone must go home after the war is over to rebuild Ukraine.
Konservative consider that it is irrelevant to discuss this right now. What is most important is to give them peace as we don’t know when and how the war will end.
The government also considers that most of the refugees need to return home to help rebuild Ukraine, but it is too early to make proper considerations on it.
The special residence permits given to Ukrainian refugees will expire on the 17th of March 2024. In January 2024, the Ministry of Immigration and Integration will decide if they will be extended for one more year.
89% of the population in Denmark supports the presence of Ukrainian refugees in Denmark.
The political arena
The latest opinion poll shows that the government parties are becoming more unpopular: Since the autumn elections, the three government parties have lost a combined 11.3% in support and would no longer have a majority in the Parliament if there were elections tomorrow.
Government (Socialdemokraterne / Social Democrats 21.9%; Venstre / Liberals 9.4%; Moderaterne / Moderates 7.5%)
Two far-right parties have seen increased support (Danmarks Demokraterne +1.8% to 9.9%; DF +1.9% to 4.5%) and one has lost support (Nye Borgerlige -1.4% to 2.3%)*
*far-right parties are parties that are unfriendly towards internationals
In the “red opposition”, SF / Socialists gained most of the voters that left Socialdemokraterne (+4.5% to 12.8%) while in the “blue opposition”, Liberal Alliance gained most of the voters that left Venstre (+2.4% to 10.3%)
The new vice president of Nye Borgerlige resigned after two weeks: After the media discovered anti-corona vaccination comments made on Facebook by Henriette Ergemann, she resigned. Right now, there is an internal conflict in the party between different factions that want different futures for the party. One wants a true libertarian party, another a conspiracy theorists party, and the third a nationalist-conservative party.
The end of TikTok on the devices of state employees: After the Danish Center of Cybersecurity announced yesterday that the Chinese government is collecting data from TikTok users, literally turning the app into a spy device, several political parties have decided to ban the app on the mobile phones of employees and politicians.
So far Radikale Venstre, Danmarks Demokraterne, DF and Liberal Alliance have banned the app within their ranks.
Konservative, Alternativet and Nye Borgerlige are opposed to the idea.
SF will decide soon and Socialdemokratiet never used the app to begin with.
European Commission and EU Council of Ministers have also decided to ban the app on the phones of their employees
Danish Economy HQ
New collective agreement for workers within the industry sector: The employers’ association and the trade union have reached a compromise and agreed upon a collective agreement until 2025. The agreement still needs to be voted on by employers and workers in the field. 230,000 people work within the industry sector in Denmark.
The minimum hourly wage of 127.15 DKK will increase by 9 DKK. A salary increase of approx. 7%.
Union representatives will be able to negotiate salaries locally with specific companies.
The “free choice account” (fritvalgkonto) will increase to 9% (from 7% today) which adds roughly 22,500 DKK per year which can be used for extra free days or an extra payment for pension.
The distribution of the pension payment also changes - the employer pays 10% and the worker 2%. Today it is 8% employer and 4% the worker. In this way you get to keep 2% more of your salary.
Full salary for workers while taking qualification courses (today it is at 85% of the salary while in education). An education representative will be elected at the workplaces next to the union representative.
Maternity leave with full pay is extended by 4 weeks (2 weeks can be shared and 2 weeks for the other parent)
12.2% of the workers in Denmark are internationals: Only 14 years ago, the percentage was at 5.7%. 28% of the companies in Denmark would not be able to operate without an international workforce.
40% of the workers in agriculture, forestry and fishing and 33% of the workers in restaurants and hotels are international.
7218 Ukrainian refugees have found a job in Denmark: 58% of the Ukrainian refugees that have received residence permits and have been assessed as ready to work have found a job in Denmark. 33,994 Ukrainian refugees received a residence permit, of which 12,500 have been assessed as being ready to work.
The market
Shortage of vegetables in supermarkets due to cold weather in Southern Europe: Bad weather in Spain, Italy, and Morocco has destroyed crops and affected supply chains. During the winter months, the Danish supermarkets are mainly filling their shelves with vegetables from those areas.
Mainly tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, cauliflower and various salads have been affected.
In the United Kingdom, limits on how many vegetables you can buy have already been introduced. In Denmark, the supermarket chains consider that we have enough variety and people will simply move to other vegetables if any one is sold out.
If you want to eat locally sourced vegetables that are in season look at roots, potatoes, leeks and similar.
Daily Life in Denmark HQ
The brave story of a Danish volunteer on the Ukrainian front: Last year, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that if Danish citizens want to volunteer in the Ukrainian war, it is their free choice to do so, and they should not be worried about legal consequences back home. Read the story of Chap, a young man from Denmark who made this step.
There is no official number of how many volunteers went to Ukraine from Denmark, but the numbers are expected to be in the hundreds.
73% of the population in Denmark wants the government to continue supplying weapons to Ukraine: So far, the government has sent weapons worth 5 billion DKK to Ukraine. Why? One comment was “when the Ukrainians fight, they also fight for us”
In 2022, the people of Denmark donated nearly 60 million DKK (just from private individuals) to Ukraine.
Science and Technology
The Webb Telescope spots Six Galaxies That Shouldn't Exist
European Union HQ
Four-day week: Which countries have embraced it, and how’s it going so far?
Announcement Board
Aalborg, 4th March, 13:00 - 17:00: Diversity Day at 3F Aalborg (Hadsundvej 184). Music, singing, dance and food from many different cultures in one place.
International media about Denmark HQ
The Danish folk church shrinks despite baptism numbers staying constant.
10 of the best cities in the world to see while riding a bicycle (Copenhagen is one of them).
Flying Taxis in Denmark.
Tax on farming emissions vital to Denmark's climate targets.