The Week That Was, May 2nd – May 6th 2016
Politics / Economy
Danish People’s Party leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl invited the Social Democrats to form a joint front to sabotage the government’s tripartite labour agreement aimed at getting more refugees into work.
A new Finance Ministry report claimed income from refugees will surpass the money spent on them by 2035 and provide a positive boost for the economy – the short-term deficit will become positive by 2035 providing a 0,15% increase in GDP, the equivalent of DKK2,7bn.
The government and its allies reached agreement on new measures aimed at strengthening citizens’ rights in their dealings with the National Tax Authority (SKAT) – Tax Minister Karsten Lauritzen promised to take a ‘serious look’ at the Social Democrats’ 17 proposals to combat tax fraud.
The Socialist People’s Party (SPP) called for new rules to discourage ‘benefit tourism’ – party leader Pia Olsen Dyhr said it’s an ever-rising problem that foreign manpower continues to put pressure on Danish wages and labour conditions and it’s time for a more aggressive stance on social dumping.
Charasmatic Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen stepped down as titular head of the Red/Green Alliance to be replaced by her closest ‘comrade’ Pernille Skipper.
Denmark has it’s first-ever legislation regarding ‘operations in outer space’ after a unanimous parliamentary majority voted for the ‘space law’, Tuesday.
Foreign Affairs /EU
The EU Commission lowered its growth expectation for the Danish economy this year – in its Spring Forecast the Commission projected GNP growth of 1.2% in 2015, far down on its previous forecast of 1.9%, mirroring the government which recently slashed its economic forecast for 2016 to 1.1 percent from 1.9
The Social Democrats, Social Liberals, Liberals, Conservatives, Liberal Alliance and Danish People’s Party reached an agreement that will allow the government to seek three parallel deals with the EU on cross-border legal and police policy.
Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen said the Danish economy isn’t strong enough right now to live up to NATO’s target of at least 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence spending – he also dismissed special ambassador Peter Taksøe Jensen’s recommendation that more foreign aid money should be spent in neighbouring regions close to where refugees are fleeing from.
In a Stuttgart meeting US Defence Secretary Ash thanked Danish Defence Minister Peter Christensenfor Denmark’s recent decision to expand its role in the war on the Islamic State.
Social Affairs
279 refugees have withdrawn their application for asylum so far this year with the majority returning to their native country – only 45 refugees applied for asylum in Denmark last week, the lowest number since controls were re-imposed along the southern border with Germany.
The government extended temporary controls along the German border by 30 days to June 2 – in a joint letter fired off to Brussels, Monday, Integration Minister Inger Støjberg, alongside her counterparts from Germany, Sweden, France, and Austria, argued that the temporary measure should be extended to two years, compared with the current limit of six months under the terms of the Schengen agreement.
An adult learning centre north of Copenhagen told six female students they can no longer attend classes unless they remove their niqabs.
Evidence collected against a notorious former Danish Nazi, who by his own account was present at the Bobruisk camp in 1942-43 when 1,400 Jews were killed there, has mysteriously disappeared from the national archives.
Head of Danish Intelligence (PET) Flemming Drejer was hit with accusations of racism, based on an internal e-mail from 2011 in which police leadership characterised all east Europeans from Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary as ‘crooks’ and ‘con men’ who should be ‘detained at the first available opportunity’.
An upcoming Copenhagen art exhibition was reported to the police for encouraging terrorism and portraying suicide bombers killed in the Brussels and Paris attacks as heroes.
Business
For the second month in a row the National Bank refrained from intervening in exchange markets to support the Danish Krone.
Wind energy giant Vestas’ profit fell less than expected in the first quarter as its orders for wind turbines surged and margins widened.
Denmark’s biggest mortage lender, Realkredit Danmark, reported net profit of DKK 1,069 million for the first quarter of 2016 against DKK 1,053m in the first quarter of 2015.
Pharma giant Novo Nordisk posted slightly stronger-than-expected first-quarter operating profit but trimmed its 2016 guidance due to lower currency exchange rates.
And That Was The Week That Was, May 2nd – May 6th 2016 – to read all articles in full see: www.seven59.dk.