Last Week in Denmark (19.09 - 26.09) Episode 31
Time to intervene in the housing market; The end of the petrol and diesel cars; Panodil; UBER drivers
Public Health HQ
Status: 75,9% of the population has been vaccinated (4,448,856 people). 74,2% of the population has received the second vaccine shot (4,351,629 people). 83,2% have received Pfizer/BioNTech; 12,3% Moderna; 3,4% AstraZeneca and 1,1% Johnson&Johnson. The region with the highest vaccination rate - North Denmark (77,8%).
Corona infection status: There is an average of 300 new infected people every day. 87 people are hospitalized. The five municipalities with the highest rate of infection are: Herlev, Høje-Taastrup, Rødovre, Svendborg and Albertslund. Check out more data here.
Travel Guidelines: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, updates every week (on Saturday) the travel guidelines, by dividing the world into three colours (red, yellow and green). This week's changes - Norway on yellow, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina on red. If you travel from a yellow country to Denmark, you need to have a corona pass (vaccinated, infected before or recently tested).
Danish Politics HQ
“2030. We need to end the presence of gasoline and diesel cars on European roads. 2035 is not ambitious enough.” said the Danish Transport Minister, Benny Engelbrecht. The European Commission target to phase out fossil fuel cars is 2035. Benny wants to convince his fellow European transport ministers to aim at 2030.
Danish Economy HQ
Job market is booming: If you take a look around social media, you will notice how instead of seeing people asking for jobs, you see people offering jobs. The economy is going really well and employment is at an all-time high (2.85 million). In fact, 51.000 more people have jobs now than before the pandemic.
The potential financial crisis in China, due to the gigantic debt accumulated by the real estate company Evergrande, started to affect the Danish stock market. The total debt is equal to the entire value of the Danish economy.
The Danish National Bank is asking the government to intervene in the housing market. The housing prices need to be stabilized. How? End the practice of paying just the interest on the mortgage loan for the first years. Less tax deduction for the interest on the mortgage loan, to encourage potential homeowners to get a smaller debt.
The pandemic had a smaller effect on the public finances than expected. The deficit in 2020 has been 4.3 billion dkk. The expected amount - 160 billion dkk.
The average taxpayer contribution to the state budget in 2020 has been 93,183 dkk.
Ultimatum sent to Intervare A/S: The city of Copenhagen demanded from the company Intervare A/S (which delivers food to vulnerable citizens on behalf of the municipality) to rectify the working conditions for the drivers and give them the contract-agreed salary (including the difference on the previous months). Until then, the payment to the company from the City of Copenhagen has been withheld.
Daily Life in Denmark HQ
Nordic diet: A report from Science Council on Prevention shows that the Nordic diet lowers blood pressure and reduces the level of cholesterol (lower risk of cardiovascular disease). The Nordic diet has a high content of plant-based foods (especially whole grains, vegetables and roots, berries and fruit), moderate amounts of nuts, legumes, cabbage, rapeseed oil, seafood and a lower content of meat as well as restrictions on processed foods, sugar and salt.
Binge Eating Disorder (BED): Around 50,000 people in Denmark suffer from compulsive overeating. So far, the government has offered free treatment for them. However, from 2022, there is a good chance the free treatment will be discontinued. During the negotiations for the Finance Act 2022, Venstre (Liberal Party) and DF (Nationalist Party) will fight to maintain free treatment.
Danish Nature Indicator (DNI): A national indicator of biodiversity, made by a research group that mapped how wild the Danish nature is by quantifying the state of nature, the degree of nature protection and the extent to which we have made room for nature's processes. According to the indicator, the current situation of biodiversity in Denmark is alarming.
Painkillers and pregnant women: A review of 30 studies made between 1995 and 2020, show that there is a potential connection between the use of Panodil and Paracetamol during pregnancy and developmental disorders (autism, ADHD, genital malformations, etc.). The researchers are requesting an update of the guidelines for pregnant women.
Uber drivers vs. social fraud: 1498 people in Denmark have worked for UBER as drivers (2016-2017) while being on social benefits (unemployment, social help, SU, etc.). Now, they have to pay back the money received in that period (18.7 million dkk). 439 cases have been processed so far, from which 162 have already received a repayment bill, while 100 have been reported to the police.
The World in 2021 HQ
Canada Federal Elections: The current prime minister Justin Trudeau (Social Liberal) will stay in power but has not won the majority he hoped for after calling a snap election.
Russia Elections: The pro-Putin United Russia party won the country's parliamentary elections following a clampdown against Kremlin critics. The opposition claimed election fraud.
Ukraine passed a law that keeps oligarchs out of politics, a day after an assassination attempt to kill an aide of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, which officials said could have been a response to the reform.
UK Gas Crisis: Almost a million people might face the winter without access to gas after 7 gas companies went bankrupt. 35 other gas companies are also nearing bankruptcy putting millions more at risk. Why? The import price of natural gas has increased and there are no stockpiled gas reserves. Why not make gas more expensive? There is a maximum price the companies can charge customers, which is not enough to keep up with the increase in import price. Other issues? The food prices have increased.
In Michigan, United States work has begun on the first road to charge electric cars while they drive on it.
UNICEF reports that most infants in at least 91 countries suffer from malnourishment and food insecurity. The United Nations agency Food and Agriculture Organization estimated last week the number of hunger affecting globally to be about 811 million people.
European Union HQ
Volcano eruption: The Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain, erupted for the first time in fifty years. More than 100 homes on the island of La Palma in the Spanish Canary Islands have been destroyed by lava flows, and 5,000 people evacuated.
Weed referendum: Activists in Italy say that they have gathered enough signatures to trigger a referendum on liberalizing the use of cannabis.
Turów Coal Mine: The Court of Justice of the European Union imposes a daily fine of €500,000 on Poland for its refusal to close the Turów Coal Mine, which was declared illegal by a temporary injunction from the court in May. What is the problem? The mine is affecting the water reserves from German and Czech border cities.
Poland accuses Russia and Belarus of "orchestrating a wave of illegal immigration" after four people were found dead yesterday at the Polish–Belarusian border.
EU vs. AUKUS: President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen suspended negotiations for a free trade agreement with Australia over Australia's recent cancellation of a submarine contract with France, demanding that Australia must apologize to France before the agreement can continue.
The European Commission announced plans to make the USB-C connection the common port for all smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers and handheld video game consoles.