The Week That Was, October 16th – October 22nd 2017
Politics/Economy
The opposition called on the government to reject the Russian Nord Stream 2 project – the centre-right coalition retains hope the EU will intervene.
A new poll showed 72 percent of the electorate would not support tax reform if it leads to more inequality.
The construction industry urged lawmakers to take political action to counter the labour shortage.
Retail purchases with the Danish national debit card, Dankort, normally a reliable indicator of private consumption, rose by a very modest 0.1% in September compared to the previous month – Producer Price Inflation (PPI), a weighted index of prices measured at the wholesale, or producer level, increased for the third straight month in September to the highest level in four months.
Danish educational institutions will be banned from adopting English names if a new Danish People’s Party (DPP) proposal is passed by parliament.
EU/Foreign Affairs:
On arrival at the 2-day EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Turkey does ‘everything wrong’ and doesn’t belong in the EU. He also said that although both the EU and Great Britain have a shared interest in making a mutually beneficial Brexit deal, both sides have a lot of work to do.
The Social Liberals called for the country’s opt-out on defence and military affairs to be scrapped – party leader Morten Østergaard warned that Denmark is being ‘left behind’ because of the opt-out.
A new police report claimed thousands of Danish police officers will in the future be denied access to Europol’s search engine because Denmark isn’t a full member of the EU’s cross-border police agency.
The government earmarked nearly DKK5m (approx. $792,000) to the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency to monitor Iran and make sure the country is living up to its 2015 deal, dismissed by President Trump as the ‘worst ever’ – Denmark’s ambassador to Iran reportedly told a top Iranian official the Danish government was surprised by President Trump’s efforts to distance himself from the nuclear deal signed by his predecessor.
Denmark is facing a battle with three other EU countries for a seat on the powerful UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
Mayor of Copenhagen Frank Jensen called on the EU to solve the problem with homeless Roma people, despite recent success in closing down illegal camps.
New Tax Ministry figures showed 4,250 students from other EU countries received a state loan in 2016, compared to only 2,085 in 2010 – at the same time, 10,200 foreign nationals who’ve studied in this country have an outstanding debt of DKK782m (€104m).
The UN urged Denmark to start accepting quota (mandatory) refugees again from next year.
The Danish People’s Party (DPP) said Denmark should pull out of the Dublin Agreement if EU countries are forced to accept a relocation quota of refugees, as suggested by the European Commission.
Denmark has the highest percentage of single-parent families in the EU – in a new report by EU statistics agency, Eurostat, Denmark (30%) recorded the highest proportion of single adult households with children, followed by Lithuania (28%), Sweden (25%), the United Kingdom (21%), France and Latvia (both 20%).
The latest report by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) ranked Denmark second only to Sweden in an EU-wide comparison of gender equality.
Thai police charged Danish national Jocob Holm Schultz, 43, with operating a fraudulent reservation website for hotels in Thailand which left more than 400 foreign customers with nowhere to stay when they arrived.
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Social Affairs:
A new study showed the government’s proposal to cut child support for those with three or more children will affect Danish families more than those from ethnic minorities who were the original target.
A new report showed how immigrants from Pakistan, Iran, Vietnam, and Turkey who arrived here in the 1960s, 70s and 80s have failed to build up private pensions to supplement their state-funded allowance.
Leading Danish news outlets such as DR, Ritzau, and TV2 are considering collaboration on a fact-checking site to monitor newspapers, social media, public debates and politicians’ comments for fake news.
Copenhagen Council’s Labour & Integration Administrator (burgermeister) Anna Mee Allerslev backed down and agreed to pay DKK65,000 ($10,000) for the rent of City Hall’s prestigious ballroom for her wedding reception last year.
Business:
Danish global facility services company ISS signed its biggest contract ever – a ten-and-a-half-year contract with Deutsche Telekom to deliver Integrated Facility Services across Germany.
Vestas signed a partnership deal with Australian renewables developer Windlab to develop the world’s first hybrid-energy project at the Kennedy Energy Park in Queensland.
A new report by the Danish Shipowners’ Association (Danske Rederier) showed Denmark is the 7th biggest maritime nation in the world.
Danish home improvement supplies retailing chain Harald Nyborg is selling copies of Lego’s iconic building bricks imported from China.
Aarhus-based IT firm Liace was cleared of illegally supplying hi-tech surveillance equipment to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to monitor social media.
Kåre Schultz, CEO of global pharmaceutical company Lundbeck and one of Denmark’s most succesful business executives, is moving to Israel at the end of the month to head multinational Teva.
And That Was The Week That Was, October 16th – October 22nd 2017: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required)