The designated head of government Frederiksen spoke about the coalition negotiations of “give and take”.
(Photo: VIA REUTERS)
Stockholm She has kept her promise: Denmark’s Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had repeatedly emphasized during the election campaign that she was aiming for a “broad coalition”. And after more than 40 days of tough negotiations, she was able to present a centre-left government on Tuesday evening.
This consists of its Social Democrats, the conservative-liberal Moderaterne and the liberal Venstre, which contains clear elements of bourgeois politics.
This is the first time in a very long time that Denmark will have a cross-block government. The designated head of government Frederiksen spoke about the coalition negotiations of “give and take”. In fact, the cornerstones of the government program contain clear elements from both political blocs.
The Danish business association welcomed the agreement across the previous political blocs. Association leader Lars Sandahl Sørensen said on Wednesday: “A government in the center makes us believe in an end to the seven-year slump in reforms.”
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Above all, he hopes for reforms in the labor market. Like Germany, Danish industry is also suffering from a massive shortage of skilled workers. The hitherto extremely restrictive immigration policy has not exactly acted as a magnet for foreign workers. However, there are no concrete measures on the subject – the new government probably wants to think about them.
What reforms should there be?
Instead, there should first be a tax reform. The country has one of the highest tax rates in Europe to date. The aim is to lower taxes on middle incomes while increasing them on high incomes.
In view of the uncertain geopolitical situation in Europe, the new government wants to increase its military spending to two percent of gross domestic product by 2030.
(Photo: EPA-EFE)
Overall, the tax reform should cost the state around five billion crowns, around 672 million euros. In view of the uncertain geopolitical situation in Europe, the new government wants to increase its military spending to two percent of gross domestic product as early as 2030 and thus achieve the spending target set by NATO.
Another ambitious goal: CO2 emissions are to be reduced by 70 percent by 2035, and the country wants to be climate-neutral by 2045. In order to achieve this, a flight tax is to be introduced. Frederiksen also announced that her new government would eliminate a public holiday to increase productivity.
However, one of the first tasks of the new government will be the further implementation of the health care reform that was decided years ago. As in Germany, Denmark is also struggling with the lack of medical professionals, an aging population and the resulting diseases.
The decentralization of the hospital sector was identified as one reason for the lack of medical care. Similar to what Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) suggested, the Danish government at the time decided to close many of the small hospitals and instead rely on a few large, specialized clinics.
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The conversion is not yet complete, but should now be accelerated. The reform was recently criticized loudly during the election campaign. Because for many patients, the centralization to a few large clinics has led to long journeys. The new government was open to corrections to the previous plans.
Why politics is rumbling
One has to go back more than 40 years to find a coalition between Social Democrats and Venstre. And something else is unusual in the neighboring country to the north: in recent decades, as in other northern European countries, there have often been minority governments that have had one or more opposition parties support them on individual factual issues.
Denmark gets new government
But because of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, her country needs “broad cooperation and common solutions,” as Frederiksen explained. Now she has this broad alliance, and the first problems are already beginning to emerge.
The previous support parties feel alienated. And her own party is also rumbling about working with two middle-class partners. Commentators in Copenhagen expressed cautious skepticism as to whether the new coalition would last through the full legislative period. Especially since the three-party coalition only has a small majority and is dependent on votes from the Faroe Islands and Greenland, which belong to Denmark.
This consists of its Social Democrats, the conservative-liberal Moderaterne and the liberal Venstre, which contains clear elements of bourgeois politics.
(Photo: VIA REUTERS)
It is also questionable whether former Danish Prime Minister Lars Lökke Rasmussen will find his way in his new role as junior partner in the new government. After his electoral defeat in 2019, he left his party Venstre and founded the new group Moderaterne, which made it straight into parliament. Now he is forming a coalition with his new party with the old one – and all this under the leadership of his successor.
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