Politics/Economy

Welfare spending will rise to DKK4.2bn next year as the government prioritised children, the elderly, and health in its pre-election 2019 draft budget – other key points include DKK1bn to underprivileged children over the next four years, DKK100m each to culture, mental health, and senior citizens, DKK2.6bn to humanitarian aid, and DKK185m to protect the west coast of Jutland against flood damage. Despite the public sector spending increase the government expects a budget surplus in 2019.

The government’s latest economic review painted a rosy picture of the economy – 190,000 jobs have been created in the private sector since 2013 and if the current trends continues a record three million Danes could soon be in work.

A local Danish People’s Party (DPP) politician was forced to step down as chair of the integration committee in Faxe, south of Copenhagen, for urging Spanish police to shoot migrants.

Defence Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen was accused of deliberately concealing crucial information from parliament about the noise levels of the Danish Air Force’s new fleet of F-35 fighter jets.

Speaker of the House Pia Kjærsgaard expressed concerns about ‘parliamentary chaos’ following the Alternatives’ threat to exclude their seats from the centre-left alliance and the Social Liberals’ fracture with the Social Democrats on immigration policy.

For the first time in 25 years, Denmark has become a net importer of oil – the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) said it expects the number of barrels of oil produced each day to plummet from 138,000 to 128,000 barrels per day.

EU/Foreign Affairs:

At a press conference alongside Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Tuesday, France’s President Macron praised Denmark as a ’strong, integral’ EU partner despite its four opt-outs. Although the PM warmly embraced Mr Macron’s call for stronger defence cooperation in Europe during the France president’s state visit, Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said the USA remains Denmark’s closest ally. President Macron wound up his two-day visit, Wednesday, with a cycle trip through the streets of Copenhagen alongside the PM.

Denmark accepted an invitation from France to despatch a frigate to provide support for a French aircraft carrier patrolling the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean.

The government proposed Denmark’s biggest ever humanitarian aid budget – Development Aid Minister Ulla Tørnæs said DKK2.6bn will be earmarked for ‘hot spots’ around the world such as catastrophe and refugee areas in the 2018 budget.

The government set aside DKK 700 million ($110m) in its 2019 draft budget proposal as a safeguard against the potential repercussions of a hard Brexit.

The government will accept that all out of service ships flying European flags can be dismantled at controversial South Asian beach scrapyards as long as they abide by strict environmental and recycling requirements.

Social Affairs:

Emergency health clinics are to be established in Copenhagen following reports that around 98 percent of the capital’s  doctors are not accepting new patients.

Although Danes are often named the ‘world’s happiest’ in international comparisons a new study showed many young people in this country are struggling or suffering.

The Danish People’s Party (DPP) urged an Aalborg school to report a Muslim mother to the police for wearing a face covering niqab when she drops off her child.

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Business:

Wind energy giant Vestas announced plans to close its assembly plant in Leon, Spain – all 362 employees at the factory will be affected.

Danish homeware retailer JYSK is strengthening its position in Greece with two new stores – the company now has 21 outlets in the country and is aiming for 40 by the end of 2020.

The Swedish krone dropped to its lowest exchange rate against the Danish krone since 2009, Thursday – 0.697, a 10% decrease since the start of the year-

And That Was The Week That Was, August 27th – September 3rd 2018: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).