Car-free day in Copenhagen looking unlikely

Konservative party lay down veto

Earlier this year, news emerged that the Danish capital was due to enjoy its first ever car-free day on a Sunday in September. Those plans, however, are evaporating like diesel fumes on HC Andersens Boulevard.

The Konservative party used its right to veto the plans at City Hall yesterday, citing a lack of funds for the green initiative, and the car-free day now looks unlikely.

No funds set aside
The 4.7 million kroner it would cost was too steep a price to pay for one car-free day, according to Jakob Næsager, the head of Konservative at City Hall.

“Not one single kroner has been set aside for a car-free Sunday,” Næsager said on Facebook.

READ MORE: Copenhagen to get its first car-free day in September

“Absurd” move
Without any funds set aside for the initiative, the money would have to be found in the surplus tax funds from last year.

Morten Kabell (Enhedslisten), the city’s deputy mayor for technical and environmental issues, who originally announced the car-free initiative, called the veto by Konservative “absurd”.





  • 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.