Government wants to merge regions
The government plans to merge the Zealand and Greater Copenhagen regions into a single “East Denmark” megaregion, reducing the number of regions from five to four, according to reports by broadcasters DR and TV2.
The plan forms part of a health reform which is scheduled to be presented by government leadership this morning. The Moderate party, a member of the coalition government, has previously favoured abolishing the regions.
Regions – and their elected boards – administrate public hospitals and the GP system. They also orchestrate regional mass transit and manage initiatives to create economic growth.
The new East Denmark Region would result in a significant size disparity between the regions. For example, Region North Jutland covers only 10 percent of the population, while the new megaregion would have 2,741,728 residents and encompass nearly half of Denmark’s population.
READ ALSO: What’s the difference between a municipality and a region in Denmark?
Vocabulary: at sammenlægge – to merge
Airline SAS announces 15 new routes from Copenhagen in expansion strategy
Scandinavian airline SAS is to open 15 new routes from Copenhagen from summer 2025 and aims to establish an international hub in the Danish capital, the company said in a press statement this morning.
Next summer’s services from Copenhagen Airport will include destinations such as Krakow in Poland, Madrid in Spain, Budapest in Hungary, and Malta. Domestic flights between Copenhagen and Billund will be reinstated after a five-year hiatus.
SAS revealed yesterday that it will resume long-haul flights to Seattle in the United States, after a 16-year break, as part of its new summer schedule starting on March 30th next year.
The new routes are part of a fresh start for SAS following its recent official exit from bankruptcy protection and change of ownership.
READ ALSO: Airline SAS announces end of restructuring and leaves bankruptcy protection
Vocabulary: ruter – routes/services (on transport)
Moderate party offers staff severance in return for silence
Employees of the Moderate party are being offered severance packages that include a confidentiality clause and have until Thursday to sign if they wish to accept the offer, according to reports by newspaper Ekstra Bladet.
A number of current and former employees of the coalition party last month filed a complaint with the Danish Working Environment Authority (Arbejdstilsynet), describing a culture of bullying and harassment at their workplace.
The severance option was subsequently offered during a nine-hour crisis meeting which took place two weeks ago and has since been negotiated with Djøf, the trade union which represents most of the employees, Ekstra Bladet writes.
Internal disagreements over the way the issue was handled by party leadership have led to one of its MPs, Jeppe Søe, quitting the party and becoming an independent lawmaker.
READ ALSO: Denmark’s Moderate party thrown into chaos by whistleblowers
Vocabulary: fratrædelse – severance
EU court hears Danish plea to annull EU minimum wage directive
The EU court on Tuesday heard Denmark’s call for it to annull the EU’s minimum wage directive on the grounds that it contravenes the EU Treaty.
The hearing began at 9am in the Grand Chamber of the EU Court of Justice, with Denmark arguing that when they adopted the directive in 2022, the EU Parliament and EU Council were in breach of Article 153 (5), which states that the EU’s right to legislate over social policy “shall not apply to pay, the right of association, the right to strike or the right to impose lock-outs”.
“I am pleased that the European Court of Justice will be given the opportunity to assess the case. This is a matter of principle,” Denmark’s employment minister, Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen, said in a press statement on the hearing.
“The government, a broad majority in the Danish Parliament and the social partners have been against the EU’s minimum wage directive from the start. We are adamant that wage formation must take place in Denmark and not in the EU. We have 125 years of good experience in leaving the negotiations on wages and working conditions to the parties,” she added.
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