Last Week in Denmark (25.06 - 02.07) Episode 25 Year 3
International students are welcome once again; 110% unemployment benefits
Editor HQ
One week hiatus: Next week, I will be in a military boot camp in the South of Denmark. Unfortunately, I will spend most of the time in the forest and am therefore unable to write the newsletter. The next edition is on the 16th of July. See you soon :)
The “Last Week in Denmark” podcast: Thank you for the overwhelming support for the podcast project. The pilot episode reached more than a thousand listeners, and we received a lot of useful and constructive feedback. Now, we are taking the podcast back into the development lab until the 13th of August, when we will launch it properly. The podcast is produced by Wizmedia and co-hosted with radio journalist Wizzi Magnussen.
We will keep you updated on the developments.
You can still send us feedback on lastweekdk@gmail.com
Call for donations: We want to create a unique jingle for the “Last Week in Denmark” podcast that shows the fusion of internationals and Danish society. In that direction, we are looking for patrons—people who want to sponsor this project—as we need to pay a master musician to create it. We need to raise 5000 DKK.
You can donate using MobilePay to 3438JD with the reference “For the Jingle”. If you want to remain anonymous , add “Anon”.
The patrons of the jingle will be mentioned in the next episode of the podcast and will remain forever with that honor.
Danish Politics HQ
New Laws and Regulations
“We need more people to learn a trade and help us with the green transition”, were the words of the Minister of Higher Education while announcing the reform of higher education in Denmark. According to the government, fewer young people should choose the path of academia, and therefore from 2025, there will be a reduction of 8% of the places at bachelor programs (roughly 2,700 spots).
From 2028, 10% of master degrees will be shorter (1 year and 3 months).
Also from 2028, 10% of master degrees will be vocational (4 years long that can be done alongside a full time job). From 2032, 20% of the master degrees will be vocational.
1.7 billion DKK will be invested to reform higher education.
Enhedslisten (Left-wing), Radikale Venstre (Social Liberals) and DF (National Socialists) left the negotiations for the reform. Unsurprisingly, DF’s motivation was the change of direction regarding international students.
University of Southern Denmark (SDU) has already decided that from 2025 you need an average grade of seven (on the Danish scale from -3 to 12) to apply for a bachelor's degree.
Privatization of the postal system in Denmark: From January 2024, the PostNord monopoly on mail delivery will end and private companies will be able to enter the market. The new mail delivery price will be determined by the market. Expectations are that the competition between the private companies will lower the mail delivery price, just as it happened with parcel delivery.
While private companies will be responsible for the delivery, the state still needs to ensure that everyone in Denmark can send and receive letters. The Danish Transport Agency will have to monitor the market and if there are uncovered areas found, the Ministry of Transport will intervene and appoint a private company via a public tender.
The state is still responsible in 3 postal areas: mail to islands, international mail and blind mail (blind people can send and receive mail free of charge).
110% unemployment benefits while on vocational education: If you are over 30 years old, unskilled or skilled with an outdated education and unemployed, then you can go back to school to learn a new trade like electrician or SOSU assistant. The benefit? You can study and get higher unemployment benefits at the same time.
You can discuss this opportunity with your jobcenter and/or a-kasse from 1st July.
54.5 million DKK for digitally challenged people: The government agreed with a majority of parliamentary parties to fund initiatives that will help people in Denmark who cannot use digital public solutions. The concrete initiatives will be presented in the autumn. From the text of the agreement, it seems they want IT education for digitally challenged people and to make it easier for others to help them, among others.
143.2 billion DKK investment in the Danish Army over the next decade: The government agreed with almost every parliamentary party (with the exception of the left-wing party Enhedslisten and the green party Alternativet) to make a significant investment in the Danish Army. However, so far they have only agreed on the amount of money they want to invest. In the autumn, we will also find out what initiatives will be funded by this large investment.
The first problem they need to solve is the recruitment and retention of military personnel. More soldiers are needed. Unfortunately, the Defense Minister rejects the idea that part of the money should be spent on higher salaries.
The second item on their agenda will be the monitoring of the Arctic and North Atlantic. Especially after reports of Russian spy ships that threaten our critical infrastructure.
The third issue is the condition of the barracks and other military buildings. They need to be refurbished.
Currently, Denmark does not live up to the NATO expectations of spending 2% of the GDP on the military. In 2022, the percentage was at 1.38%.
Danish Citizenship, Integration and Immigration Laws
Change of direction regarding international students: In a remarkable policy turnaround, Denmark has announced the reopening of its doors to international students, signaling a significant shift in the government's approach. This decision follows a decline in international student numbers over the past years, attributed to the cancellation of numerous English-language university programs. The government now aims to reestablish itself as a sought-after destination for international students, recognizing the value they bring to academia and society.
1,100 new university places will be open, yearly, between 2024 and 2028.
From 2029, the number will increase to 2500 new places open every year.
Half of the new programs in English will be placed outside of the 4 big cities and they will follow the needs of the job market.
Dansk Industri (Confederation of Danish Industry) welcomes the change of direction.
Law proposals and ideas
Should the mandatory conscription extend to females? That is one of the first questions that the parties behind the new defense agreement will have to answer in the autumn. One way to increase the number of conscripts will be by extending to women.
The only party against the idea is the far-right party DD led by Inger Støjberg.
The political arena
Mette Frederiksen is not leaving for NATO, at least not yet: The current Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, has been asked to stay at least one more year. This gives more time to Mette to prepare a potential exit from the government and Danish politics. We will know for sure in the summer of 2024.
With the NATO Secretary General position race put on hold, Denmark turns its eyes on the race for the EIB (European Investment Bank) President position. Margrethe Vestager has openly declared her interest for the position and she is supported by the Danish government in her bid.
If Margrethe Vestager gets the position, we will need a new EU Commissioner from Denmark. Most likely, it will be a social democrat politician. The race is between Business Minister Morten Bødskov and Development Minister Dan Jørgensen. However, rumours also point to the leader of Moderaterne, Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
Tighter rules for gun permits: A law proposal is being drafted in the area of gun permits and it will make it harder for people to own weapons in Denmark. One of the proposed rules is that people with mental illness should not be able to obtain a gun permit. How? Police should get access to health information during the screening of a gun permit applicant.
The association Bedre Psykiatri criticizes the proposal as it stigmatizes people with mental illnesses and portrays them as dangerous.
The Justice Minister replied to their criticism by saying that “mental health” is assessed when you apply for a driving license. According to him, it shouldn't be easier to get a gun permit.
Danish Economy HQ
What is one of the best paid jobs in Denmark? Air traffic controller. They have an average yearly salary of 1.297.200 DKK and retire at 60 years old. To become one you need a three year education. Sign up here.
Daily Life in Denmark HQ
Best “June” month since 1920: The jokes about Denmark are almost always related to the weather here. If you ask someone from outside Denmark to describe our weather, they will say “dark, murky, windy and almost always raining”. Well, that is the old times. In today’s Denmark, we got 304 hours of sun during June, which broke the record from 1940.
87% of the people trust the police: This is the highest level of trust ever measured for the police. 89% of the people in Denmark feel safe in their local areas.
Climate
Water has become a luxury in Uruguay: The South American country is struggling with a multi-year drought and high temperatures. The president has declared a “water emergency”. The situation has become so bad that residents are being forced to drink salty tap water and workers are drilling wells in the center of the capital to reach the water beneath the ground. What’s happening in Uruguay is a “mirror into the future” and it should make us more aware of the things we take for granted, like access to water. Read the whole story in English here.
European Union HQ
This category covers interesting happenings from other EU member states, EU candidate countries and EFTA countries (Norway, Iceland, Switzerland)
Germany has opened wide their doors for internationals: It’s not just Denmark that suffers from labor shortage. Most of the European Union states are also looking to attract international workers. For example, Germany just made a deal with Kenya for 250,000 workers. They are also negotiating similar deals with Jordan, India, Vietnam, Ghana, Tunisia and Brazil.
Germany plans to increase their population from 84 million to 90 million.
The Danish ambassador to Germany says that Denmark will soon be forced to make similar deals with countries from outside the European Union.