Last Week in Denmark (29.08 - 05.09) Episode 28
Finance Law 2022; Labor shortage; Special Nightlife Zones; 70% EU vaccinated
Public Health HQ
Status: 75,4% of the population has been vaccinated (4.414.841 people). 72,2% of the population has received the second vaccine shot (4.231.113 people). 83,2% have received Pfizer/BioNTech; 12,3% Moderna; 3,4% AstraZeneca and 1,1% Janssen. The region with the highest vaccination rate - North Denmark.
Corona infection status: There is an average of 700 new infected people every day. 137 people are hospitalized. The five municipalities with the highest rate of infection are: Ishøj, Brøndby, Albertslund, Gladsaxe and Glostrup. 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 colors (red, yellow and green). This week's changes - Croatia (besides Sjeverna Hrvatska), Lower Austria, Bolzano (Italy), South Norway and Southern and Western Sweden became yellow. 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
2 months and a half until the local and regional elections. Check out the latest poll and see how your favorite political party is doing.
Red parties - Socialdemokratiet (Social Democrats) 28,6%; SF (Socialists) 7,8%; Enhedslisten (Red-Green Alliance) 7,1%; Radikale Venstre (Social Liberals) 6,4%; Alternativet (Greens) 1,3%; Veganerpartiet (Vegans) 0,3%
Blue parties - Venstre (Liberals) 15,2%; Konservative (Conservatives) 13,6%; Nye Borgerlige (Libertarian Nationalists) 9,3%; DF (Social Nationalists) 5,5%; Liberal Alliance (Libertarians) 2,3%; Kristendemokraterne (Christian Democrats) 1,2%
We have a labor shortage in Denmark. For example, 80% of the hotels are lacking workforce. Also, there is a shortage of skilled labor. Construction companies are lacking carpenters, masons, painters, plumbers, electricians, etc. The government will meet with the Employer’s Association and the trade unions, to find a solution. Ideas on the table: Bring more skilled labor from other EU states; Keep older people longer; Attract young people to join the workforce earlier and find a way to match the 100,000 unemployed with the job market.
Tough times ahead for the people living in Langeland. The mayor announced a “welfare bloodbath” (basically certain services will have to be cut), after they only received 37 million dkk (instead of the requested 69 million) from the state. Langeland is among the 17 municipalities that receive a special grant for poor municipalities.
100 nurses from Aarhus University Hospital stopped work for an hour, for several days in a row to show their dissatisfaction with the government intervention to stop the nurses strike last week.
Danish Economy HQ
Finance Law 2022: At the end of every summer, the government presents the budget proposal for next year. Until December, the government will negotiate with the other parties in order to obtain a wide-majority in the Parliament. Right before Christmas, we will know the final result of the negotiations. What is negotiated? Our tax money and how to use them.
Compared to 2021, the government wants to spend less money. Finance minister, Nicolai Wammen said that they “will remove the foot from the accelerator so we avoid an overheating of the economy”. Why? Because the Danish economy is booming, with the highest growth in 15 years (3,8% GDP growth 2021) and we are having a labor shortage in the private sector. Therefore, not the best time to hire more people within the public sector.
Priorities:
The government will spend 35 million dkk to increase the labor supply (get more people into jobs), with focus on the 45,000 young unemployed and the women with another ethnic background. Another main focus is the development of the rural area (new local police stations; new education institutions; local hospitals; better access to welfare) and the public health of the people living in the capital (more sports facilities and nature spaces).
840 million dkk will be spent on social initiatives for people with disabilities, homeless, elderly, poor children and to fight human trafficking.
240 million dkk for the Danish Prison and Probation service to hire more prison guards and other initiatives.
10 million dkk for a help hotline for digital identity theft.
32 million dkk for a free vaccine against invasive pneumococcal disease (IPS)
4 billion dkk in reserve to fight the pandemic (in case it gets bad again)
Negotiations: 1.2 billion dkk are up for negotiations with the other parties. The money will be spent on ideas that will get the other parties to vote for the finance law in the Parliament. The initial reaction from the other parties is that they want more money up for negotiation.
Enhedslisten (Red-Green Alliance) aims to obtain free dental care for young people (18 to 25 years old) and better maternity conditions. Only the free dental care costs 700 million dkk, so chances to obtain that wish are slim.
Venstre (Liberal Party) wants more funds invested in attracting workforce to Denmark and green transition.
SF (Socialists), Enhedslisten and Radikale Venstre (Social Liberals) want to drop the “håndværkerfradraget” and “servicefradraget” (tax deductions for home improvements).
Other reactions:
Danish Employers’ Association - “We need more people for the Danish companies now. The government needs to focus on this challenge first. How? Limit the number of public employees, hire more internationals and graduates, keep people longer in the labor market.”
United Trade Union Movement - “We need to raise the unemployment benefit rate by up to 4,000 dkk in the first three months of unemployment.”
Daily Life in Denmark HQ
An innovative storage system of wind and solar energy will be built in Lolland, next year. The storage facility will consist of large steel tanks filled with basalt peebles. On days with extra wind and sun, the excess of energy will be transferred into the stones, so that when it is needed the energy can be transferred back. The entire world is watching this new technology to see if it will work.
Manned drones: Falck started test flights with health drones on the Ærø island. The idea is to transport blood samples and medicine by drone. Falck aims that by 2025, paramedics will be able to fly in drones. Read more here.
Queen of Denmark feat. Netflix: The Oscar-winner Danish director, Bille August (Pelle the Conqueror) is adapting Karen Blixen novel “Ehrengard '' into a Netflix movie. The set of the movie is designed by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. The story is set in the fairytale kingdom of Babenhausen where a young, self-appointed expert on love, Cazotte, is hired by the scheming Grand Duchess to help her secure an heir.
From 14th September, the following areas in Copenhagen: Gothersgade, Vestergade, Vesterbrogade and Kødbyen, will become “special nightlife zones”. This means that between midnight and 5 o’clock in the morning, people convicted of violence cannot enter those zones. This also means an increased police surveillance of the areas.
Free vaccine against influenza: The Danish Health Agency decided to offer children between two and six a free vaccine against influenza, starting 1st of October. At the moment, the following groups can request a free vaccine - pregnant women; healthcare staff; elderly over 65; people with chronic illnesses. The vaccine is given through a nasal spray.
Problems with electrical safety on construction sites: The Danish Safety Agency found 189 violations of the rules on temporary electrical installations on construction sites. That covers everything from minor faults such as cables on walkways, to serious violations such as missing ground spikes. The latter is a serious violation because with the lack of ground spikes there is a high risk of shock.
The World in 2021 HQ
There is a coffee shortage in the world. The drought in Brazil and the COVID-19 restrictions in Vietnam have created the perfect storm. However, you will not notice it for another 6 months.
China has limited playing video games (for young people under 18) to only three hours a week, on all devices (including mobile phones). Authorities said that the restrictions were put in place to help prevent young people becoming addicted to video games.
Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of US Central Command, announced “I'm here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the end of the military mission to evacuate American citizens, third country nationals, and vulnerable Afghans. We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out."
The US withdrawal Monday marks the first time in nearly two decades that American troops have not been on the ground in Afghanistan. After $2 trillion in spending and nearly 2,000 US troops killed in action, the pullout also raises questions about the utility of a war that saw the service of parents and then their grown children.
The leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, Ahmad Massoud, announces that resistance against the Taliban will continue in spite of reports that the Panjshir Valley fell to Taliban control yesterday.
The European Union says that it will not currently recognize a Taliban government in Afghanistan and that the government will be "subjected to conditions". However, the EU also states that it will still engage the group in diplomatic talks.
European Union HQ
70% of the European Union citizens are fully vaccinated against covid-19. However, there are EU states where the situation is critical, like Bulgaria, where only 20% are vaccinated.
France: With a few exceptions, the speed limit in Paris has been reduced to 30 km/hour. Why? Increase traffic safety; more space for cyclists; reduce noise and contribute to climate protection. The mayor, Anne Hidalgo, wants to also remove 60,000 out of 140,000 parking spaces.
Norway: The minister of transport asked the Norwegian Railway if they could connect Oslo and Copenhagen with a night train. An answer is expected until 1st of November. If positive, work will start towards launching the night train.
Protests occur in front of hospitals across Greece to oppose compulsory vaccination for healthcare workers which took effect this week and could result in the dismissal of up to 10,000 unvaccinated workers.
Until Next Week
The Danish Agency for Digitalization under the Ministry of Finance has been cooking a huge change for some time now. NemID will transform, or better yet, upgrade to MitID – a more secure and more able to face the digital challenges we face today and leave room for improvement for the future of cybersecurity.
This “takeover” has already started from August 2021 and will take place gradually throughout 2022, until all the people will be invited to make the change. You will receive an invitation from your bank (which is responsible for transferring its customers from NemID to MitID) either on your online banking page or via digital post (E-boks). Keep in mind that you might need to wait a bit to get the invitation, so no need to contact your bank about this beforehand. MitID will be used for the same purpose as NemID. Read more about this here.