State of Denmark Week 5

Welcome to February in our wind-plagued lands! In the last episode of the “Nordic Waste” drama, the focal point was “who should pay for it?” Randers Municipality’s legal investigation says that the municipality cannot be held responsible for the disaster, putting the entire responsibility on Nordic Waste. At the same time, the company points the finger at the municipality, questioning the sudden appearance of the “missing environmental reports.” Joining the fray, the national government announced an investigation into Randers Municipality and their role in the landslide. So far, 50 million DKK out of the 205 million DKK allocated have been spent on measures to stop the landslide. However, 2 billion DKK more will be needed, and the way it looks now, Randers Municipality might end up paying for it. 

At the DR and TV2 television studios, another drama is unfolding: bad working conditions for the child actors in tv productions and Christmas calendars (julekalendere). The government has established a working group to propose improvements to the situation by the end of 2024. Children under 13-years-old are not allowed to work in Denmark, but an exception has been made for the entertainment industry. However, they are not covered by the collective agreement and cannot join a trade union (the Actors Union is negotiating with the Producers Association to change the situation). 

In-between stopping landslides and child actors asking for better conditions, the desert winds of the Sahara visited us at the beginning of the week, providing colorful skies and blood rains. With this beautiful image in mind, I wish you a great week ahead! Hopefully, the strong winds from Norway will not make their way towards us. And remember, flu season is in full swing, if you’re wondering why you haven’t seen some of your colleagues for a while now. 

Word of the Week

Borgerforslag = Citizen proposal. You can use the word when you refer to a proposal made by a citizen to a public body. Usually, the proposal needs to be backed by a minimum number of signatures. For example, if you want your proposal to be debated in Parliament, you need 50,000 signatures, while if you want it in the regional council, you need 1,000.