The Week That Was, November 13th – November 19th 2017
Politics/Economy
A candidate for the far-right New Conservatives (Nye Borgerlige) in this week’s municipal elections was expelled for racism – in a direct-mail campaign to voters in Gentofte, under the heading ‘Dear Patriots’, Lars Kiil described Muslims as a ‘cancer on society’. A well-known local politician from the Zeeland region north of Copenhagen was fined DKK 5,000 for leaking confidential information about the Atea corruption affair. A local Danish People’s Party (DPP) candidate stepped back from his call for a ban on hospital employees wearing beards after the proposal was mercilessly ridiculed on social media.
Local Government Denmark (Kommunernes Landsforening /KL) was accused of a misuse of public funds after a TV2 investigation revealed a former top boss spent DKK 90,000 (€12,000) on Mont Blanc fountain pens, enjoyed caviar at expensive restaurants, and claimed thousands of kroner for private weekend trips to five-star hotels throughout Europe.
Government figures showed Denmark’s planned purchase of 27 new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) jets could be at least DKK10bn ($ 1.5bn) more expensive than previously stated.
A parliamentary majority backed the government’s move to dispatch more troops to Iraq to battle the Islamic State (ISIS).
The economic upswing ground to a halt during the year’s third quarter (Q3) when GNP growth shrank by minus 0.3 per cent – the latest Statistics Denmark figures also showed Denmark’s Producer Price Inflation (PPI) slowed for the first time in four months in October.
New Statistics Denmark figures showed financial inequality between the rich and poor in Denmark has widened slightly – the Gino coefficient, a commonly-used measure of income inequality, rose to 29.01 at the end of last year, a 0.22 point increase.
The government put together a majority for its new business stimulus package, which includes measures to strengthen the business sector, create an ‘entrepreneur culture’ and encourage people to invest in the stock market – the opposition dismissed plans to finance new business incentives with further cutbacks in the unemployment insurance (dagpenge) scheme as ‘ridiculous’ and a ‘breach of promise’.
The 2017 Hays Global Skills Index, a detailed analysis of labour market pressures for 33 countries, showed the recruitment gap in Denmark has widened more than all others.
EU/Foreign Affairs:
Denmark assumed the rotating chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Wednesday – the government has said it will use the 6-month chairmanship to test the validity of the European Court’s interpretation of the human rights convention.
According to three senior officials at the European Parliament, France’s President Emmanuel Macron is pushing for Danish EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager to become the next president of the European Commission.
Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said the new pan-European defence pact could lead to another Danish referendum – PESCO (The Permanent Structured Cooperation) has been termed the biggest leap in EU military policy in decades but Denmark is excluded because of the defence opt-out.
Denmark was ranked 17th on the 2018 Climate Change Performance Index, issued by Germanwatch and the New Climate Institute in conjunction with the Cop 23 summit in Bonn. Denmark joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance of at least 18 countries who’ve agreed to phase out coal from power generation before 2030.
The employment rate in Denmark is at its highest since the financial crisis, with 2.7 million people in work, and according to a new report by DI (the Confederation of Danish Industries) the number of people with jobs will hit an all-time high over the next few years.
Denmark is number one on the 2017 Bertelsmann Annual EU Social Justice Index which compares levels of poverty, social cohesion, job opportunities, education, discrimination and health issues in the 28 EU member states.
Poland’s ambassador to Denmark Henryka Mościcka-Dendys urged Polish residents to return home to help fill the labour shortage in her country.
Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen broke ground at Copenhagen Zoo, Thursday, for a new enclosure to house the two giant pandas that China offered to loan during the his visit to Beijing in May.
Social Affairs:
Glostrup District Court heard how a 68-year-old former top-level Tax Department (SKAT) employee was given free trips to the USA and cash every year as a reward for helping his 47-year-old accomplice receive tax refunds totaling DKK37.4m (nearly $6m).
The Conservatives integration spokesman, Naser Khader, refused to apologise to female imam Sherin Khankan who’s threatened to sue three government politicians unless they offer an unconditional apology for accusing her of supporting Muslim extremists.
The government and Social Democrats came out in support of a Danish People’s Party (DPP) proposal that would prevent convicted gang members from receiving full social benefits for a five year period. Two violent immigrant gangs in Copenhagen, Loyal to Familia and Brothas, agreed to a cease fire after fathers of gang members successfully negotiated a month-long stop to the numerous shootings that have plagued the capital this year and cost three lives – the Social Democrats said if the fathers have the power to negotiate a ceasefire, as claimed, they should have intervened far sooner and before three young people were killed.
In a landmark ruling the Supreme Court revoked the citizenship of a Danish national – Enes Ciftci was sentenced to six years imprisonment with deportation to follow for travelling to Syria to fight alongside the Islamic State (ISIS).
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Business:
Nearly 8 million passengers passed though Copenhagen Airport in July, August, and September, boosting pre-tax profit to DKK778.8m (€ 100m).
The health authorities reprimanded Maersk Oil for mishandling about 450 tons of low-radioactive nuclear waste disposal placed in a temporary warehouse in Esbjerg on the west coast of Denmark.
Danish consumer council Taenk reported Apple Pay to the Competition and Consumer Authority, claiming the mobile payments service breaches competition regulations and EU rules.
New information about ‘shady transactions’ carried out by Danske Bank’s Estonian branch could lead to massive penalties for Denmark’s biggest financial institution.
Following a series of sex scandals in the USA and UK the Danish authorities launched an investigation into allegations of ‘sexual harassment, degradation and bullying’ at Zentropa, the film studio co-founded by famous director Lars Von Trier.
Spanish-German wind energy giant Siemens-Gamesa announced plans to fire 600 workers at its Danish factories.
And That Was The Week That Was, November 13th – November 19th 2017: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required)