The Week That Was, August 21st – August 27th 2017
Politics/Economy
Leaked documents obtained by Politiken show the government’s proposals for across the board tax cuts will give high earners more money than its failed move to lower the punitive top rate of income tax. The government is preparing to present a raft of measures this week that will ease the overall tax burden by around DKK22bn ($3.1bn) but doesn’t have the backing of voters – a new poll showed 50.5% of the electorate believe that if there’s any financial leeway within the budget over the next few years then more welfare should be the top priority, while only 10.4% support tax cuts.
The government will earmark DKK400m over the next four years to help stop tax evasion – Tax Minister Karsten Lauritzen said small and medium–sized companies need to be audited more following a new report by the Association of Danish Accountants showing companies owe more than DKK26bn to the state, a 60% increase since 2013.
As part of its new budget plan to be announced this week the government is hoping to encourage ‘the average wage earner’ to take a dip in the stock market by reducing the tax on share investments.
The government approved extra funding for the Foreign Ministry to set up an office to investigate the extent of religious persecution.
The Social Democrats have dipped in the polls over the summer, raising doubts about the opposition’s ability to win the next election – the party has dropped by 2.2 percentage points, to 25%, shrinking the opposition’s lead to just 1 percentage point.
The Danish Tax Authority (SKAT) defended using sensitive information obtained by a police wire-tap operation even though it should have been destroyed years ago.
In a new book, ex-foreign minister Per Stig Møller claimed the outcome of the COP15 2009 climate conference in Copenhagen, seen by most countries as a fiasco, had already been agreed two months beforehand by US president at the time, Barak Obama, and Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
Consumer confidence fell in August after improving in the previous two months – retail sales, normally a sign of consumer confidence, also fell for the second straight month.
EU/Foreign Affairs
Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the threat from the east is ‘genuine and increasing’, distancing himself from Denmark’s ambassador in Moscow, Thomas Winkler, who in an interview with Berlingske warned against ‘over exaggerating’ Russia’s military capability.
A Russian bomber was tailed by Danish F-16 fighter jets recently when it flew close to Danish territorial airspace in the Baltic near Bornholm – Latvia has agreed to buy an ‘undisclosed number’ of air-defence systems from Denmark.
The Europol issue continues to divide the pro and anti-EU parties at Christianssborg after Justice Minister Søren Pape Poulsen informed a parliamentary hearing that only selected police officers will have the authority to make searches in Europol’s database as part of Denmark’s agreement with the EU on cross-border policing.
The European Competition Commission, led by Denmark’s Margrethe Vestager, launched an in-depth investigation of Bayer’s planned $66 billion takeover of U.S. seeds group Monsanto.
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Social Affairs:
The government dismissed a Danish People’s Party (DPP) proposal to relocate asylum seekers to remote, uninhabited Danish islands – Integration Minister Inger Støjberg warned that refugees and asylum seekers who lie during the application process will be denied permanent residency.
Inventor Peter Madsen is to face charges of murder and ‘indecent interference with a human corpse’after DNA tests confirmed the headless torso washed ashore off the coast of Copenhagen was 30-year-old Swedish journalist Kim Wall, last seen alive on August 10th aboard Madsen’s submarine.
Two more hate preachers were banned from entering Denmark, while a 49-year-old imam was charged with breaching anti-racism laws by equating gays with pedophiles.
Following a summer of gang warfare and shootings the government asked a Justice Ministry working group to come up with suggestions that would allow the authorities to send criminal immigrants back to where they came from – the Danish People’s Party warned that mobile police stations stationed in various locations throughout Nørrebro won’t solve the gang warfare problem. Traffic wardens have refused to patrol the streets of Nørrebro following threats from gang members.
The ruling Liberals bowed to public pressure and will support moves to legalise pepper spray.
Business:
466 million Chinese consumers will soon be able to buy Danish pork on the internet after Danish Crown, the world’s largest pork exporter, signed an agreement with Alibaba, China’s biggest online commerce company, to sell directly on its Tmall platform.
Denmark’s biggest company, AP Moller-Maersk, agreed to sell its oil and gas division to Total of France for DKK41bn ($7.45bn) in one of the biggest corporate deals ever in this country.
Wind turbine manufacturer Siemens announced plans to fire 600 workers from its blade factory in Aalborg and relocate a further 130.
Vestas strengthened its position in Thailand’s renewable energy market by finalising the sale of 60 low-wind wind turbines to an undisclosed customer.
And That Was The Week That Was, August 21st – August 27th 2017: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required)