Last Week in Denmark (20.03 - 27.03) Episode 11 Year 2

Higher wages! Relocation of study places, Scenarios for the economy, Pension

Editor HQ

This week, the newsletter is shorter than usual, as the editor has been abroad on a work assignment. We will go back to normal from next week! Thank you for your understanding! 

Danish Politics HQ

The political game

Conservatives vs. LGBT: The youth wing of the Conservative Party wanted to exclude members who were also members of the association “LGBT+ Denmark”. After criticism, they renounced the idea. 

Socialists vs. Carlsberg: SF (The Socialist Party) is putting pressure on Carlsberg to immediately stop all economic activity in Russia. Ukraine’s ambassador to Denmark said that Carlsberg has “blood on their hands”. 

Change of paradigm: The Socialist Party (SF) have changed their political line on defense spending. If before the war, they used to be against funding the military, now they are fully supporting it. 

The one-time “heating check”: According to the Minister of Climate, the “heating check” will be paid out the earliest in August. DF and Venstre (Liberal Party) are putting pressure on the government to do it faster. 

Moral dilemma: To support Ukrainian refugees, the Ministry of Development Aid has to “reprioritise” financial resources initially allocated for Syria, Bangladesh and Mali. 

New laws and strategies

Agreement on the relocation of study places: The government has reached an agreement with Venstre, SF, Konservative, DF, NB, and KD to relocate study places from the big cities to smaller ones. 805 million DKK will be used to open 41 new educational institutions. 

• 2400 study places will be moved outside the 4 big cities (Copenhagen, Aalborg, Odense, Aarhus).

• 2000 new study places will be opened in smaller cities. 

Law proposals

The organization that represents the interests of the elderly in Denmark, Ældre Sagen, has made a call to increase the pension by 3,5%, to keep up with the recent price increases. 

Danish Economy HQ

The “War in Ukraine” effect: The government prepared three scenarios for the future of the Danish economy as a result of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. 

• Intermediate scenario: Less growth in export markets / Higher energy prices. Inflation will rise by 2,5% and the economic growth will be limited to 1,6%.

• Harsh scenario: The conflict escalates / the Russian gas supply is stopped. Inflation will rise by 3,5% and there will be no economic growth this year. 

• Mild scenario: Sanctions against Russia remain the same / The energy prices start to stabilize. Economic growth will be 2,2%. 

Higher wages: The people of Denmark have started to ask for higher salaries from their employers to be able to keep up with the increasing cost of life. However, some companies might not be able to offer that, as they already have to pay more for energy costs and importing products from abroad. The wages are expected to increase on average by 3,6%.