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November 5th, 2013

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More professional, less inclusive
Despite popular opinion that local government is less significant than national government, a new report on the topic finds local councils have gained increasingly more power in recent years. The report, compiled by KORA, a local government think tank, also found that local councillors had become more professional since 2007, when the number of local councils was reduced from 271 to 98. At the same time, however, voters, said they felt increasingly less involved in the decision-making process. An increasing number also found local politics had become too confusing to understand. Voter turnout tends to be about 25 percent lower in local elections than in general elections. – Kristeligt Dagblad

LOCAL ELECTION 13: See our full election coverage

Bank sought to “bully” experts into silence
Banking experts participating in a TV expose in which a Jyske Bank employee appeared to be instructing a customer how to avoid paying taxes say the bank pressured them to keep their mouths shut. Jyske Bank, the nation’s third largest bank, reportedly sent multiple letters warning the three banking experts who appeared on the programme last night on public broadcaster DR that they could be charged with defamation. While the three said they felt the letters were an attempt to intimidate them, Peter Hansen, a Jyske Bank legal spokesperson and the author of the first letter, said the bank had intended to inform them that DR had misrepresented the situation. – Politiken

SEE RELATED: Bank advises customer on how to dodge taxes

English increasingly spoken here
More than half of the member companies of DI, a business lobby, use English as their company language, according to an internal report. The number is double what it was in 2008. Charlotte Rønhof, a DI vice president, described the development as positive but also necessary, due to developments that saw more companies either becoming part of foreign companies or establishing their own daughter companies abroad. Rønhof said it was unlikely English would force out Danish at all companies, but with an increasing number of foreign employees in Denmark, more would need to adopt English. – Berlingske

SEE RELATED: When it comes to English, Danes are second to one

Can’t buy me a good reputation

Despite spending 370 million kroner since 2008 to attract skilled foreign labour, Denmark is still having trouble improving its reputation as an attractive place to live and work. The money has been used to fund 18 projects and the organisations receiving the funding said they felt they could document their results. According to others there appeared to be a lack of co-ordination and that too little time was spent on achieving results. “Sometimes you read something in a report that we’ve already known for three years. They use too much time on analysis and too little time on doing something,” said Tine Horwitz, the head of the Consortium for Global Talent, a lobby group. – Erhverv & Økonomi

SEE RELATED: Government promises reforms to attract skilled foreign workers

Editorial Excerpt | Realism after Snowden
Many companies are going to re-evaluate how they protect their data [in the wake of Edward Snowden’s revelations about NSA spying] and individuals are going to change how they behave on the internet. Companies and individuals, too, are going to be more cautious in their approach to American officials. Their scepticism will no doubt be tied to the Denmark’s dependency on co-operation with the US. Snowden has stirred up controversy, but to his credit he has given us a more realistic picture of just how much we are being spied on. Individuals need to do what they can, but the government must also make sure that Danes are not subject to anything illegal. – Børsen

SEE RELATED: Denmark is one of the NSA's '9-Eyes'

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