Morning Briefing – Friday, May 24

The Copenhagen Post’s daily digest of what the Danish press is reporting

Opposition reveal ten-point school reform proposal

Venstre, Konservative and Dansk Folkeparti have teamed up to concoct a ten-point proposal for the ongoing school reform negotiations. The proposal includes ideas to improve results in the international PISA test, English language learning from the first grade, ideas to battle disruptive classrooms and an obligatory hour of physical education every day. – Berlingske

Business leaders to save Odense

Local politicians in Odense have reacted to Odense's sluggish growth by establishing an unusual work group, called Odense Business Taskforce, which is expected to solve the city's economic issues within just 13 weeks. Some figures compiled by Børsen newspaper showed that Odense has missed out of 2.7 billion kroner between 2005 and 2011 due to poor growth. – Børsen

Metro plans are illegal

The city’s plans to extend the working hours of the Metro construction will be in violation of European and international laws, an expert from Copenhagen University said. Metroselskabet has applied to be able to extend working hours in order to avoid delays that could cost the state an extra 1.7 billion kroner. – Politiken

Cell phone users getting duped

A recent test by the consumer council, Forbrugerrådet, showed that half of Danes don’t receive good mobile phone connections due to poor antennae quality. Since 2011, 228 cell phones were tested and half were found to have an antennae quality rating of average to less than average. The business and growth minister, Annette Vilhelmsen (Socialistisk Folkeparti), has refused a national rating scheme. – Jyllands-Posten

UN kills Danish environmental innovation

A majority of the International Maritime Organisation, a UN agency, has decided against new, more stringent environmental rules that would generate billions of kroner in jobs and exported clean technology. Led by Russia, the opponents refused to agree to two central issues, a reduction of ships’ NOx gases and demands for cleaner ballast water. – Ingeniøren

Badminton legend running for EU parliament

After being selected as a Venstre candidate in northern Zealand for the coming autumn elections, badminton legend Poul-Erik Høyer announced that he will be running for a spot in the EU parliament in 2014. Høyer, who won gold in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and who was also recently elected president for the Badminton World Federation, said that he would focus on steroid use and match fixing in sports. – TV2 News

Majka continues to impress

Polish rider Rafal Majka from Team Saxo-Tinkoff continued his impressive Giro d’Italia yesterday after finishing fifth in the tough time trial stage in the mountains. The result saw Majka jump up to sixth place in the overall standings and snatch a two-second lead over Colombian rival Carlos Betancur. – Cykelmagasinet





  • How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    Being part of a trade union is a long-established norm for Danes. But many internationals do not join unions – instead enduring workers’ rights violations. Find out how joining a union could benefit you, and how to go about it.

  • Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals are overrepresented in the lowest-paid fields of agriculture, transport, cleaning, hotels and restaurants, and construction – industries that classically lack collective agreements. A new analysis from the Workers’ Union’s Business Council suggests that internationals rarely join trade unions – but if they did, it would generate better industry standards.

  • Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    The numbers are especially striking amongst the 3,477 business and economics students polled, of whom 31 percent elected Novo Nordisk as their favorite, compared with 20 percent last year.