Morning Briefing – Thursday, October 3

The Copenhagen Post’s daily round-up of the front pages and other major Danish news stories

Oct 3, 2013

No recourse for privately insured
People with employer-paid health insurance cannot seek compensation for malpractice should they experience problems with treatment. The revelation comes after woman on Funen had her request for compensation rejected on the grounds that the treatment she was complaining over had been paid for by her employer, in this case a local council. The woman is now seeking to have that decision overturned in court. The outcome could have a wide-ranging impact. During the 2000s, large numbers of people signed up for private health insurance through their employers as a form of benefit. One insurance company, Falck Healthcare, has agreements with 3,000 firms. – Jyllands- Posten

Taxing the heat
Support for the government’s bill to promote renewable energy is drying up due to concerns that it places a tax on biomass that can be used as fuel. People who buy material such as wood and straw for non-fuel purposes can apply to have the tax refunded, but only if the amount of the tax paid exceeds 5,000 kroner, and if they can prove it was not used as fuel. The tax was expected to bring in 2.8 billion kroner annually, and was to be earmarked to fund development of renewable energy sources. – Berlingske

Pay or we’ll stay
Residents in the Vanløse district tired of having a motorcycle gang living in their midst have been given an offer by the group: pay us 500,000 kroner and we’ll move out. The club, a chapter of the Bandidos gang, said the money would cover the amount it has used on renovation since moving into a house in the residential neighbourhood earlier this year. Gang experts said this was the first time they had encountered such an incident. Lawmakers are calling on the Justice Ministry to ask whether it violates any laws. – DR Nyheder

Old standards
Ten days after he replaced Ejvind Kolding as the head of Denmark’s largest bank, Thomas Borgen says he is ready to undo the changes made by his predecessor. Under Kolding, Danske Bank, as part of its 'New Standards' campaign, had begun a process of closing branches in order to meet reduced demand for face-to-face customer service. Borgen said the bank’s customers had accepted that some branches needed to be closed, but admitted the process had taken place too quickly. – Berlingske Business

Banking on conventional farming
Organic farmers say they are being pressured by banks to convert their activities and start growing conventional crops. In order to convince farmers to convert, banks have reportedly forced them to draw up budgets that show how profitable they would be if they converted. Dairy producers’ groups and organic farming associations said they have had multiple complaints about the practice. Organic farmers admitted they were less liquid than conventional farmers, but said their operations were often more profitable. – Erhverv & Økonomi

Editorial Excerpt | The right direction
If we want our businesses to keep up in the face of increasing international competition, we need to make sure that are our vocational schools are also up to the task of training the employees companies need. That’s not the case right now. Vocational schools are looked down upon. That needs to change. – Berlingske

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