Last Week in Denmark (23.10 - 30.10) Episode 37 Year 2
Legal cannabis in Germany; MitID; Election Day
Editor HQ
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Danish Politics HQ
2 days until Election Day: 1.014 candidates are fighting for the 179 seats in the Danish Parliament. 38,4% of the candidates are women (the highest percentage in history). 5,6% of the candidates are Danish citizens with a different ethnic background (also the highest percentage in history). 63,9% of the candidates are running for their first time.
Explainer - “stemmespild”: or “wasted votes” means votes given for political parties that don’t manage to pass the minimum 2% border (roughly 70.000 votes). An independent candidate needs roughly 15.000 to 20,000 votes to get elected. There are two red parties and two blue parties that are in danger of not passing the 2% border - Alternativet; Frie Grønne (red) and DF; Kristendemokraterne (blue). If you pass the 2% border you get 4 seats in Folketinget (Danish Parliament).
Explainer - “symbolpolitik”: or “signal politics” means proposed laws that do not solve an issue but instead show a certain part of the population what your intentions are. For example, the mandatory handshake to get citizenship; the confiscation of jewelry from refugees; the border control with Germany; etc. Imagine you live in a city where people don’t really like the idea of flying cars. A political party can build popularity with a law to ban flying cars even though there are no flying cars invented yet. That is “signal politics”.
Focus on healthcare: The biggest problem right now? Not enough doctors, nurses and SOSU assistants. What are the political parties planning to do about it?
Higher salaries - the majority of political parties want to increase healthcare pay.
Socialdemokratiet wants to give a retention bonus (a one-time payment) to staff that chooses to stay in the public system. Also, the overtime/night/weekend pay should be increased.
Venstre proposes the same as Socialdemokratiet, plus giving the freedom to hospitals to give differentiated pay based on skill level.
Moderaterne proposes a temporary pay increase in 2023 of 2.500 DKK per month.
30 days treatment guarantee - the political parties are split on suspending this right.
Socialdemokratiet and Venstre are against the idea of removing patient rights, even if just temporarily.
Moderaterne would like to suspend this right for 2023 or at least until hospitals catch up with the number of planned surgeries.
Enhedslisten would like to change the 30 days treatment guarantee from being universal to being differentiated, depending on the type of disease you have.
Less administrative work - medical staff spends too much time in front of a computer compared to spending time with patients.
Socialdemokratiet wants to move the desk-oriented tasks from medical staff to other people hired exactly for this purpose (that don’t have medical training).
Enhedslisten wants more medical secretaries and cleaning staff to be hired in public hospitals.
Recruit internationals - the political parties agree that the process of recruitment of medical staff from abroad should be put on turbo.
Venstre wants to introduce a fast track for individual countries that have state-of-the-art medical education like the USA, Canada or Australia.
Moderaterne want to create a special agency that will have the single purpose of finding qualified healthcare staff abroad.
Socialdemokratiet wants medical staff that apply for documentation to go through the process much faster than today.
Focus on a CO2 tax on agriculture: For Danish agriculture to go through the green transition, they need 15 billion DKK yearly. For Denmark to achieve its climate targets, they need to reduce the greenhouse emissions from agriculture (which accounts for 35% of the total emissions). The question now is, who should pay for this? The citizens or the farmers. If it is the citizens, we would have to pay 2.500 DKK yearly. For the farmers, it would be 500 DKK/CO2 tonne/yearly.
According to experts, a CO2 tax on the farmers would push them to close up to 8.000 jobs. Also it will increase prices on certain animal products (in the hope that the consumption will be reduced).
Socialdemokratiet wants a CO2 tax on the farmers, but at a smaller rate, enough to save the 8.000 jobs. That also means that the rest of us will have to cover the difference.
Venstre also wants a smaller CO2 tax on the farmers, but without asking the citizens for the rest. They suggest instead selling the shares in the energy company Ørsted to finance the agriculture green transition.
Greenlandic language in the Parliament: One of the Greenlandic candidates that have a good chance to get a seat in the Danish Parliament, does not speak Danish. If he gets elected, it would be historic. The Danish Parliament does not have a rule about what language needs to be spoken in plenary and it was never discussed before.
The parliamentary elections 2022
Updates from the red parties
Socialdemokratiet proposed to add 2,5 to 3 billion DKK to the yearly budget for the salaries of public servants. Who should get the salary increase from 2024? Mette Frederiksen wouldn’t say exactly, although she wishes for better salaries in healthcare, elderly care, child care and prison management. It’s up to the negotiations between the social partners (the unions and the employer associations) to reach a collective agreement.
The Nurses Union welcomes the proposal but insists that to retain nurses in the public system, their salary needs to be increased with 5.000 DKK per month (not 2.000 DKK as Socialdemokratiet proposed).
The Associations of Trade Unions (FH) also welcomes the proposal. The educators union (BUPL) is actually happy with the proposed amount, so is the union of prison staff.
Dansk Industri, Dansk Erhverv and Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening (the association of employers) find the proposal to go against the Danish model.
The Police Union and the Teachers Union are unhappy that they are not included in the potential groups of civil servants that get a raise.
Enhedslisten: wants to make prescription medicine free. This would cost the state budget 4 billion DKK, money which they would get by raising taxes on capital and shares income. Why? There are people who cannot afford the medicine they need.
Alternativet: are being promoted last-minute by top figures from Socialdemokratiet. People are encouraged to vote for Alternativet :) to ensure a red government for another four years.
Socialdemokratiet (26,2%) SF (9,8%) Enhedslisten (6%) Radikale Venstre (4,1%) Alternativet (2,2%) Frie Grønne (0,8%) = Red camp 49,1%
Updates from the blue parties
Venstre: Together with DF, they criticized the government for not coming with a model for "sindelagssamtaler" (mind to mind conversations) that will test applicants for Danish citizenship views on different things. They want this to be introduced as a requirement for getting Danish citizenship. The government says that the Grundloven (Constitution) is preventing them from finding a legal model and hopes to find an alternative until April 2023.
Liberal Alliance: They are the most popular political party among young people (18 to 34 years old). Why? Communication. They know how to talk to young people, or at least their leader knows, the king of TikTok, Alex Vanopslagh.
Venstre (12,5%) Danmarksdemokraterne (8,8%) Liberal Alliance (6,8%) Konservative (5,9%) Nye Borgerlige (3,7%) DF (3%) Kristendemokraterne (0,2%) = Blue camp 40,9%
Updates from the center parties
Moderaterne: want to replace the national pension (folkepension - state pension paid out to all pensioners) with a system based on your own savings. After a wave of criticism from the other parties, Lars Løkke Rasmussen said that this idea is for the far-away future, is just a proposal to start the discussion on the pension system of the future (10% in the latest opinion poll).
Danish Economy HQ
Info for people on “kontanthjælp”: If you go to Germany to shop without informing the municipality with at least two days' notice, you stand to lose a third of your cash assistance for 20 weeks. The municipalities have started to look into people that receive cash assistance bank statements. If they find a payment made abroad, they will look to see if you asked permission from your case worker.
Kontanthjælp is a public benefit for people who are unable to support themselves or their family. Income and assets are deducted from the cash benefit. This also applies to your spouse's income and assets. Young people under 30 without education receive educational assistance instead. EU citizens with permanent residence (lived more than 5 years in Denmark) have this right (and their spouses).
The “winter season” starts with a warm November, according to DMI (Danish Meteorological Institute) and it will continue with a December with temperatures above zero. This means that the consumption of gas will be lower than expected. Also, Europe’s gas reserves are full, and dozens of gas tanker ships are waiting on the coasts to replace any gas used from the reserves. The gas price reached a negative level where the seller pays the buyer to take it. However, you as the final customer will only feel a 20% reduction in price, as the gas stored already has been bought at a much higher price than it is today.
When we started to cover the current energy crisis in this newsletter (December last year), we advised the subscribers to look into getting a fixed-price electricity contract (fast pris) as that is the best insurance during times of crisis. However, if you didn’t manage to get a fixed-price contract before the summer of 2022, then it is a bit late now. The fixed-price has increased so much that it’s simply not worth it. At the moment it is better to gamble by having a variable price electricity contract that is dependent on the real time market price.
When should the stores be open?: On the 1st of October 2012, the “closing law” was abolished and replaced with the “public holidays law” which states that stores need to close on public holidays, Constitution Day, Christmas Eve and after 15 on New Year’s Eve. Otherwise, they can be open 24/7. Some store managers from smaller communities are asking for the “public holidays law” to be amended so that they can close on Sundays and earlier during work days.
Enhedslisten and Alternativet support the idea of supermarkets closing at an earlier hour and on Sundays.
Konservative are against making changes to the law.
Record employment among the “non-Western immigrants”: According to Statistics Denmark, 65,2% of the so-called “non-Western immigrants” (which basically is non-Europeans minus USA, Canada and Australia) had jobs in 2021. An increase of 13,2% compared with 2015. It is expected that the 2022 numbers will show an even higher percentage.
Daily Life in Denmark HQ
Time for nuclear power in Denmark?: In Aarhus, a group of young people created the association called “Yes to nuclear power”. The association already has almost 1000 members. Climate is by far the most important topic for people between 18 and 31 years old. In March 1985, a majority in the Danish Parliament decided to ban nuclear energy, because of the thousands of protests organized by the “No to nuclear power” movement.
MitID Apocalypse: NemID will expire on the 31st of October and from the 1st of November you will need MitID to access your digital eboks, bank and others. So basically if you didn’t activate your mitID yet, you have one day to do it. You are not alone. Almost 500.000 people in Denmark are in your situation.
Vocational education in decline: 18% fewer students have chosen a vocational education compared to last year. In a time when we need more qualified electricians, carpenters, plumbers, car mechanics, etc. fewer young people choose to take this path. The drop is from 42.000 students to 34.000.
Sport with Jelimir Vlastici
Aalborg Handball loses again to powerful FC Barcelona. On their own turf, Aalborg lost on Wednesday to the defending Champions League winners with 33-39. The Spaniards are thus still undefeated and lead the group ahead of, among others, Aalborg, who have four fewer points after five games. The defeat is just one out of many against the Spanish big team, who have now won all 10 games in which the two teams have met. Despite the defeat, Aalborg Handball is still in a good position in the fight for further advancement from the group stage. With six points after five games, the North Jutland handball club is provisionally third in the group.
European Union HQ
Germany plans to legalize cannabis: The government wants to legalize cultivation, possession and consumption of cannabis. You should be able to buy up to 30 grams from authorized shops and pharmacies. The ones most happy with this new law? The German Police (they spend too much time on fines and dealers)
In Switzerland, Portugal and Malta it is legal to possess small amounts of cannabis.
Unusual warm weather in Southern Europe: If you still have a few vacation days left, head towards southern Spain or southern France. The weather is perfect for lying on the beach at 24 degrees for the upcoming week.
The end of petrol and diesel cars in Europe: Cut-off date - 2035. From that date on, such cars cannot be sold new on the European market anymore. However, from 2030, new cars must already emit 55% less compared to the ones today.
Announcement Board
Aalborg: Thanksgiving Dinner organized by Aalborg International Friends on the 19th of November. You can sign up here until the 16th of November.
Aalborg: Do you love living and working in Denmark, and do you want to share and promote your experiences to other people in your home country? You still have the opportunity to become an ambassador! International House North Denmark will be having their first workshop on November 8th, so if you want to share your experience of living and working in Denmark, sign up here.
Nota Bene! From this edition we are introducing 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.