40 years: Forty years ago last Monday, 63 percent of Danes voted in favour of joining the EU. But despite the initial optimism toward the European project, Denmark has since battled with EU scepticism. In 1993, Denmark signed the Maastricht Treaty, but only after it was granted ‘opt-outs’ on four areas of EU co-operation. Two decades later, the opt-outs still stand, though the government has promised a referendum on two of them. Scepticism towards the euro remains however, and it is unlikely that Denmark will vote to join the common currency given the EU’s debt crisis, even though the krone is pegged to the euro.
He´s back: Per Ørum Jørgensen, the former chairman of Kristendemokraterne, declared just a month ago that he was out of politics. He didn’t stay away long. Jørgensen announced this week that he has founded a new party, Det Demokratiske Parti. By creating the new party, Jørgensen has cleared the way to become a candidate for City Council, despite being primarily known as an advocate for the rural communities collectively known as Udkantsdanmark. One of the new party’s key platforms will be to get Denmark completely out of the EU. Jørgensen said his goal is to get back into parliament.
Mink fine: The animal rights organisation Anima and activist Thorbjørn Schiønning have been ordered to pay 850,000 kroner in damages to the Danish Fur Breeders Association for activities the activists engaged in at 41 mink farms in 2009. The breeders said that the activists, who snuck into farms with hidden cameras to document the animals’ poor living conditions for the TV2 programme ‘Operation X’, were responsible for spreading the disease plasmacytose from infected farms to healthy ones. Along with the damages, the activists were required to pay over 142,000 kroner in court costs to the breeders.
Get your fix: Parliament wasn’t the only thing to open this week. On Monday, Denmark’s first legal injection room was opened in Vesterbro. The health minister, Astrid Krag (SF), was at hand to give a speech and meet clients. The injection room will move to its permanent location next year.
CPH Post Word of the Week: Bycykler (plural noun) – Copenhagen’s city bikes, used by tourists, commuters and late-night drunks. Where you heard it: The city didn’t include money for the bikes in next year’s budgets – a heavily criticised move.
Last week's top read stories:
1. Kate's boobs coming to Denmark
2. Mixed responses to new shopping hours
3. Danish cliques a tough nut to crack
