The Week That Was, November 28th – December 4th 2016

Posted on 04. Dec, 2016 in: TWTW

Politics/Economy

Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen named his new, expanded 22-minister cabinet, including 13 from the Liberals (V), six from the Liberal Alliance (LA), and three Conservatives (K). He said Denmark now has a ‘bigger and better’ government, formed by the political will of three partners in response to a ‘tricky situation’, with reference to the 2025 plan that was dropped after Liberal Alliance leader Anders Samuelsen refused to back down from his ‘non-negotiable’ demand for a five percentage point cut in the marginal tax rate.

Mr Samuelsen denied accusations of flip-flopping – as well as the tax backdown, LA has previously called for zero public sector growth and free passage for all cars crossing the Great Belt Bridge, but is now part of a government with a political platform aiming for an annual 0.3% increase in public spending, and with no plans to reduce bridge fees. A new poll showed Mr Samuelsen is seen as the least trusted member of the new government by voters.

The new government is ready to start a privatisation push by selling off publicly-owned companies that compete with private businesses – new Finance Minister Kristian Jensen said the state shouldn’t own companies that are in direct competition with privately-owned companies, so the government’s aim is to ‘get rid of them’.

With only 53 seats the new government is still in a minority and will be heavily reliant on the biggest party on the right, the Danish People’s Party (DPP), to pass legislation. DPP leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl has already challenged many of the key issues in the new government’s political platform – he dismissed some of the economic goals of the new government as ‘numbers conjured out of thin air’. Asger Aamund, former chairman of Bavarian Nordic and one of Denmark’s most prominent business leaders, urged the new government to give the Danish People’s Party ‘whatever it wants’ on immigration in return for their support of much-needed growth reforms – he said Denmark is ‘crying out for reforms’, including across the board tax cuts, to get the country back on the right track

Amidst constant speculation about tax cuts a new report revealed taxes rose at a faster rate than incomes last year.

The latest figures from Statistics Denmark showed GDP rose by 0.4% in the third quarter of 2016, compared to the same same period last year when the Danish economy lapsed into a technical recession – total GDP growth for the first 9 months of the year was 0.8%.

Foreign Affairs/EU

Liberal Alliance leader Anders Samuelsen is Denmark’s sixth foreign minister since 2010, ‘problematic’ according to senior researcher Hans Mouritzen of the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) – he said traditionally the post was held for a number of years by the same person who was given the time needed to gain experience and build up a strong network with colleagues throughout the world.

During a meeting with the Danish People’s Party’s foreign affairs spokesman Søren Espersen, high-profile British anti-EU campaigner Nigel Farage said it’s ‘inevitable’ that Denmark will leave the EU.

The EU warned of the risk of a new housing bubble in Denmark’s biggest cities – in a formal letter, the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) also warned the Danish economy could be heading for a ‘major downturn’.

Danish Defence Command demanded access to classified US intelligence regarding the use of Danish planes in bombing raids against ISIS, after Denmark was involved in a September bombing raid in which Syrian troops were killed – General Flemming Lentfer of Defence Command Denmark said ‘regrettable mistakes’ were made in intelligence gathering ahead of the attack but Danish fighter pilots had acted in ‘good faith’.

The latest Eurostat figures showed Denmark has the highest cost of living in Europe – Danish households spend 29.3% of their total disposable income on overheads such as rent, water, electricity, and heating.

EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager was named ‘Dane of the Year’ by Berlingske, which noted ‘widespread respect’ for her attempts to hold big corporations accountable.

Cuba’s Ambassador to Denmark, HE Yiliam Gómez Sardiñas, denounced ex-Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen’s ‘inappropriate’ comments about Fidel Castro – in response to the news about the ex-leader’s death, Mr Jensen said ‘things may have loosened up a little but the truth is, it’s still a ruthless dictatorship where opposition groups are suppressed.’

Denmark’s ambassador to Iran, Danny Annan, said Danish energy companies are eager to participate in Iranian development projects – speaking during a tour of South Pars gas field, Mr Annan praised Iran’s achievements.

To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required)

Social Affairs

New labour minister Troels Lund Poulsen called on local authorities to review the medical records of all women from ethnic minorities who are claiming sickness benefits, after a similar check-up in Odense, Denmark’s third-biggest city, revealed that 9 out of 10 deemed incapable of work were healthy enough to look for a job.

Integration Minister Inger Støjberg announced a crackdown on unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who cause trouble or turn to crime – she ordered immigration officials to draw up strict ‘house rules’ for minors at refugee reception centres, including a ban on alcohol and cannabis.

Minister for Health Ellen Thrane Nørby dismissed mounting criticism of hospital maternity wards after Politiken revealed reports of staff working 25 hour shifts and mothers going into labour while waiting to be seen.

A new report from the Growth Council warned that Denmark is training far too many academics and not enough tradesmen – if no action is taken by 2025 there will be an overabundance of unemployed university graduates and a desperate lack of mechanics and electricians.

A new report showed Denmark’s electricity is now greener than ever, with renewable energy making up a larger portion of what consumers get through their power sockets.

Business

As well as privatising state-run companies the new government is also planning to deregulate the banking sector – Business Minister Brian Mikkelsen told Bloomberg News he’s already ‘preparing measures’ that will help ‘deregulate’ the financial industry.

Danske Bank laid off 77 employees and another 244 have accepted voluntary redundancy as part of an effort to cut costs.

Maersk announced plans to take over shipping line Hamburg Süd – the combined company will have a revenue of roughly DKK 213bn, over a tenth of the total GDP of Denmark.

Carlsberg is relaunching itself in the UK, where sales have plummeted over the past five years, with a DKK170m marketing push.

Toy giant Lego officially opened its first Asian factory in China’s eastern Zhejiang province – the 40 acre-factory will employ more than 1,200 people and is expected to manufacture nearly 80% of the company’s products sold in the booming Asia market.

American capital fund Apollo is reportedly on the verge of cancelling its offer for TDC, the largest telecommunications firm in Denmark.

Vestas enjoyed its best year in the USA for over a decade in 2015 – the Danish wind-energy giant accounted for 34 percent of the 8.2 gigawatts of wind power capacity installed in the country last year, according to a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration,

And That Was The Week That Was,  November 28th – December 4th 2016: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required)