The Week That Was, June 19th – June 25th 2017
Politics/Economy
Integration Minister Inger Støjberg said she will no longer share confidential information with any parliamentary committee following a string of damaging leaks concerning sensitive immigration issues – opposition parties called for a full-scale inquiry into Ms Støjberg’s illegal instruction to the immigration authorities in the child bride affair. Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen acknowledged that his ministry was in receipt of information very early in the dispute that Ms Støjberg’s instruction to the immigration authorities to separate under-age brides from their adult spouses didn’t conform to the European Convention on Human Rights.
Social Democrat leader Mette Frederiksen declined to say whether she would prefer to form a government with the Social Liberals, her party’s traditional ally, or the Danish People’s Party (DPP), but declared herself ‘willing to cooperate with everybody’ – DPP leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl said he has no intention of running for prime minister, even though his party is the biggest on the right and recent polls showing him to be the country’s most powerful politician.
A new Voxmeter poll for Ritzau showed Social Democrat leader Mette Frederiksen would become prime minister, backed by 92 seats from the centre-left ‘red’ alliance parties, if an election was held today while the current tripartite coalition, with the backing of the Danish People’s Party, would win no more than 83.
Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen was again named Denmark’s most powerful person on Berlingske Business Magazine’s annual ‘Power Analysis’ report.
The government put together a majority for wide range of initiatives aimed at encouraging seniors to work longer and postpone retirement.
A new report by the Ministry for Economic Affairs and the Interior showed financial inequality in Denmark has increased steadily since the 1990s, also when the Social Democrats were in power, 2011-15.
The Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) said Denmark needs to follow Sweden where the government has proposed cutting its corporate tax rate to 20 percent, from 22 percent.
Sydbank upwardly revised its predicted growth rate for the Danish economy after a surprisingly strong first five months.
Berlingske reported the government is examining the possibility of deploying troops to patrol the streets in the event of a terrorist attack – Danish Muslims called for extra security around mosques after last weekend’s attack when a van rammed into a group of pedestrians near the Finsbury Park Mosque in North London
Transport Minister Ole Birk Olesen suggested privatising Copenhagen’s S-train network, which he said has become too expensive and needs to operate more efficiently.
EU/Foreign Affairs
The Social Democrats and Danish People’s Party (DPP) joined together again to demand a new EU policy from the government – DPP leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl, with support from S-leader Mette Frederiksen, said the EU principle of free movement of labour has become unsustainable.
The government postponed a decision to send more troops to Afghanistan – Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen told parliament’s Foreign Policy Committee he’s waiting to hear what the NATO alliance will do collectively.
Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the proposed European Defence Fund could provide ’significant opportunities’ for Danish companies despite Denmark’s opt-out on military affairs.
Experts warned that Great Britain’s impending exit from the EU could have ‘catastrophic repercussions’ for Danish exports.
At a meeting with Romania’s President Klaus Werner Johannis on the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels, Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen urged Romania to come up with a solution to the problem regarding four Romanian criminals who can’t be deported due to the ‘intolerable’ prison conditions in the country.
Ex-NATO secretary general and former Danish prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said he believes President Trump is ‘dangerously unclear’ with regards to NATO.
Denmark’s, and the world’s, first ever digital ambassador, Casper Klynge, will soon be heading for Silicon Valley, USA where he’ll focus on technological diplomacy, one of Denmark’s five foreign policy priorities.
Denmark was again ranked Europe’s most expensive country for consumer items on Eurostat’s latest comparison of countries’ price levels relative to the EU average.
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Social Affairs:
Denmark is number 1 on the latest Social Progress Index published by U.S. think-tank Social Progress Imperative.
The National Tax Department (SKAT) was warned by the State Prosecutor’s Office for Serious Economic and International Crime six years ago that a top-level employee had received a number of suspicious payments in his private account yet was allowed to carry on working for two years until being formally charged, alongside an accomplice, with involvement in tax fraud totaling DKK37.4m (nearly $6m) – the far-left Red/Greens accused consecutive governments of imposing cutbacks that have led to the breakdown of SKAT.
New figures showed the government’s cap on social benefits hasn’t led to an increase in people being evicted from their homes, as predicted by opposition parties and social organisations when new rules for welfare entitlement were imposed last October.
A new study by a research team from the Central European University (CEU) in Hungary claimed most of the homeless Roma people in Copenhagen believe they would be better off in countries such as Italy or Germany.
368 million litres of beer were sold in this country last year, a 4% increase on 2015, while cigarette sales rose by 14 million despite claims that fewer people are smoking.
A family in southern Denmark was ordered by police to take down the U.S. flag from their garden or face a DKK2,500 ($375) fine.
Business:
The government put forward a far-reaching proposal to crack down on money laundering following the recent scandal involving the country’s two biggest banks, Danske and Nordea.
Port operator APM Terminals, part of A.P. Moller-Maersk (APM), announced plans to cut 160 staff at its Gothenburg terminal in Sweden, the largest in Scandinavia, following a labour dispute – Berlingske reported APM is aiming to list its oil business soon but has dropped plans to list other smaller units separately.
The housing market is at its hottest since 2006, which preceded the worst property market crash in a generation – Business Minister Brian Mikkelsen urged banks to limit mortgage lending to households with big debts in areas with high house prices to help to protect financial stability.
An SAS (Scandinavian Airlines Systems) plane heading for Copenhagen was forced to make an emergency landing in Gdansk, Poland, shortly after takeoff on Tuesday due to smoke in the cabin.
And That Was The Week That Was, June 19th – June 25th 2017: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).