The Week That Was, September 11th – September 18th 2016

Politics/Economy

Danish People’s Party (DPP) leader Kristian Thulesen repeated his call for a centrist alliance between his own party, the Social Democrats, and the ruling Liberals, instead of the ‘artificial’ electoral blocs that have traditionally defined Danish politics. The DPP also declared they are open to supporting an alternative to Lars Løkke Rasmussen as prime minister – party whip Peter Skaarup told DR News: “Until now we’ve always supported the Liberal option but it could just as easily be someone else.” The centrist Social Liberals signalled a move towards the right by indicating a willingness to support the government’s 2025 economic plan.

Leading political analyst Hans Engell predicted that a new opinion poll showing an increase in support for the Liberal Alliance (LA), who have repeatedly threatened to topple the government if it fails to deliver a 5 percentage point cut in the top marginal, strengthens the possibility of a snap election.

Integration Minister Inger Støjberg accused opposition leader Mette Frederiksen’s of being ‘untrustworthy’ for claiming that she’s ready to become prime minister ‘immediately’, yet has failed to present an alternative economic plan.

Tax Minister Karsten Lauritzen welcomed the move to set up an inquiry into his ministry’s conduct during the ‘share dividend scandal’, after a report revealed the Danish Tax Authority (SKAT) has been scammed out of more money than previously reported – around DKK12.3bn (nearly $2bn).

Parliament’s finance watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee, asked the audit office to look into the controversial 2014 sale of Dong shares to a group of investors led by US investment bank Goldman Sachs, following allegations that the price paid could have been too low.

The National Bank lowered its economic growth forecast for 2016 and 2017 for the third time this year – it now expects the economy to grow 0.9 percent this year, down from its previous June forecast of 1.0 percent, and 1.5 percent in 2017, down from the 1.6 percent estimated in June.

The consumer price index rose 0.2 percent year-over-year in August, slightly slower than July’s 0.3 percent stable rate of climb.

The Public Auditing Committee cast doubt on the current funding strategy for the Danish Air Force’s 27 new F-35 fighter jets.

Foreign Affairs/EU

Ahead of the Bratislava EU summit, Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the EU needs to be ‘extremely careful’ that Great Britain isn’t awarded competitive advantages in negotiations to exit the union – he also told parliament that Denmark may consider bidding for the London-based European Medicines Agency when the UK finally quits the European Union.

Britain’s incoming EU commissioner  poured cold water on Denmark’s hopes of continuing as a member of the pan-EU police agency, Europol – Sir Julian King said during a confirmation hearing in Strasbourg, Tuesday, that any deal was ‘highly unlikely’.

The government will no longer accept UN quota, or ‘resettlement’, refugees – Integration Minister Inger Støjberg has suspended the scheme indefinitely until the migrant situation has stabilised.

The government was accused by the OECD of violating international rules by funding its refugee repatriation programme from the development aid budget.

Denmark is to head an EU anti-corruption programme for Ukraine – the scheme, worth DKK120m (€16m), will take off on 1 January 2017 and span three years. Denmark has contributed DKK10m.

The government dismissed Russia’s call for direct, bilateral talks to decide who owns great parts of the Arctic – the Russian overture was dismissed by Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen who said he wanted to ‘stick to a UN process’, which experts think will take decades to sort out where borders in the Arctic lie.

Lithunia President Dalia Grybauskaitė visited Denmark to boost trade between the two countries – Thomas Bustrup, Deputy Director General of the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) characterised the visit as recognition that Denmark has a very strong relationship with the Baltic countries, but particularly Lithuania.

A majority of parties are having second thoughts about the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada.

Newly released Foreign Ministry documents appeared to confirm that Copenhagen Police were ordered to clamp down on pro-Tibet demonstrators in 2012 by high-ranking government and civil service officials.

Six leading history professors signed an open letter urging academic institutions not to participate in the government’s “historical war inquiry”, set up as a deal between the centre-right majority and the Alternatives to appease critics after the Iraq Commission was disbanded by the government last year.

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Social Affairs

Residents of Christiana agreed to allow the police to set up video surveillance of the ‘free state’, in response to last month’s exchange of gunfire when two police officers were shot and a drug courier killed.

An investigative DR TV documentary, ‘The Islamic State’s Danish Troops’, revealed how 16 Danish-Syrian foreign fighters are registered as directors of 40 different companies that owe the tax authorities millions of kroner.

Asylum figures throughout summer have remained low with an average of less than 100 per week – only 54 refugees applied for asylum in the first week of September, bringing the figures for the year so far to just under 5,000 – the government has now lowered its estimate of 25,000 for the whole of 2016 to just 10,000, which will save around DKK3bn (€750m) in asylum expenditure.

The Social Democrats warned the government’s cap on social benefits and the 225-hour work requirement for welfare recipients will create a social imbalance throughout the country as the jobless relocate to cheaper, struggling regions.

A new Danish Health Authority report showed smoking was the cause of 13,368 premature deaths in 2013, far outstripping other health issues such as alcoholism, drug addiction, and physical inactivity.

Business

National Bank Governor Lars Rohde said Britain’s decision to leave the European Union will cause the UK more problems than it will the remaining 27 members in the bloc.

Card payment services company Nets, which issues the ‘national’ debit card, Dankort, set an indicative price range for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) valuing the business at up to DKK32bn ($4.8bn) nearly double the sum paid by two U.S. equity firms in 2014.

Swedish wind energy Vattenfall won a tender to develop two major wind farms with off the west coast of Denmark that could provide sustainable energy for 375,000 households and create 6,000 jobs over a seven-year period, but still needs final approval from the Danish government, which is aiming to stop the proliferation of off-shore wind turbines along Denmark’s coastline as part of its 2025 long-term economic plan.

Brewing giant Carlsberg continues to struggle – over the past five years mid-sized brewer Royal Unibrew A/S has delivered eight times the returns that investors in Carlsberg have received.

Oil giant Shell sold off a $500m oil refinery in Frederecia to the Danish Oil Corporation, a company run by a former Shell executive.

Shares in TDC, Denmark’s largest telecom company, shot up 5.8% on news that the American private equity fund Apollo was ready to make its second bid to purchase the company

The Maersk Line opened a new route in the Pacific following the recent bankruptcy of rival shipping firm Hanjin Shipping.

And that was The Week That Was, September 11th –   September 18th 2016 – To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required)