The Week That Was, November 20th – November 26th 2017
Politics/Economy
Social Democrat leader Mette Frederiksen attributed the party’s success in Tuesday’s municipal elections to voters ‘who are slowly regaining confidence in us’. With 32.45% of the vote the Social Democrats made gains in 50 local councils, won the leadership of four of Denmark’s five regions, and the mayor’s office in Denmark’s four largest cities. The ruling Liberals suffered losses, a possible indicator for the next national election to be held no later than mid-2019, but the Conservatives came in 3rd on national basis. Support for government ally, the Danish People’s Party (DPP) fell 1.3 percentage points to 8.8 per cent.
Defence Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen said Denmark is ready to spend more money to prevent cyber attacks,
An independent legal review showed Copenhagen City Hall violated its own guidelines by allowing top-ranking officials to use function rooms free of charge to hold private receptions.
Former finance minister Bjarne Corydon is the new editor in chief at financial daily Børsen – during his time as minister in the previous Social Democrat-led government Mr Corydon was named Denmark’s most powerful person by Berlingske Business.
The OECD’s (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) latest Revenue Statistics publication showed Denmark is still the most heavily-taxed nation in the world.
Brussels-based international think-tank Bruegel urged the government to intervene to prevent a housing bubble.
According to The Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) the rate of employment in Denmark is heading for an all-time high.
The latest figures from Statistics Denmark showed the consumer confidence index rose to 7.6 in November from 7.1 in October.
After years of development, Denmark’s first-ever astronaut, Andreas Mogensen, officially unveiled ASIM – Atmosphere Space Interaction Monitor – the 314.kilo Danish observatory that will be sent into space in March.
EU/Foreign Affairs:
Copenhagen was pipped at the post in the race to host the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Monday – after months of lobbying Amsterdam was named the new home of the highly prized medicines regulator once it leaves London because of Brexit. Sweden’s Minister for European Union Affairs Ann Linde reacted angrily to Minister for Foreign Affairs Anders Samuelsen’s claim that her country let Denmark down by failing to support Copenhagen’s bid to host the EU’s European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Queen Margrethe arrived in Ghana for a three-day state visit accompanied by Minister for Foreign Affairs Anders Samuelsen, Minister for Environment and Food Esben Lunde Larsen, and a delegation of 39 Danish business leaders – on the 1st day Mr Samuelsen officially apologised for Denmark’s former role as a slave trading nation.
Denmark will give Ukraine and Georgia DKK 860m (€116m) over the next five years to help them resist Russian aggression and become ‘more western’ – Danish Military Intelligence (Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste /FE) is building an 85 metre-tall telecommunications mast on the island of Bornholm to monitor Russian transmissions.
Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen will lead a business delegation to Indonesia and Singapore this week to discuss free trade and open up doors for the Danish business sector.
Experienced Danish diplomat Pernille Dahler Kardel was appointed interim UN envoy for Lebanon.
Social Affairs:
A new Board of Health report showed the overall use of recreational drugs such as cannabis and marijuana in this country has remained stable since 2013, but young people are smoking less – however there was an increase in the use of cocaine, amphetamines, and ecstasy.
To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required)
Business:
For the third year in a row Denmark was ranked no.2 on the IMD World Talent Ranking, which assesses 63 countries’ capacity to attract and retain the talent their businesses need to thrive based on performance in three main categories — investment and development, appeal and readiness.
The Emerging Trends in Real Estate® Europe survey ranked Copenhagen in the top-5 cities for real estate investment and development.
November has been a disastrous month for wind energy giant Vestas – shareholders have, collectively, lost an average of DKK1.8bn (€220m) every single day as stock has plummeted by 31%.
Web giant Google has bought a plot of land in southern Denmark with the aim of building a new date centre, close to a similar Apple project.
Danish Crown, Denmark’s biggest food exporter, agreed to buy a 70% stake in Overberg Food Distributors, a South African foodservice business.
Nel Hydrogen Ltd in Herning signed a deal with the American Nikola Motor Company to create the largest hydrogen network in the world.
And That Was The Week That Was, November 20th – November 26th 2017: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required)