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Danish finance ministry says country will earn 3 billion kroner by scrapping public holiday

The Danish state will receive 3.2 billion kroner in extra revenue annually if it abolishes a public holiday in a plan announced by the government.

Published: 11 January 2023 17:23 CET
Danish finance ministry says country will earn 3 billion kroner by scrapping public holiday
People gather for Whitsun in Denmark in 2021. A different holiday, Great Prayer Day, is likely to be abolished. Photo: Keld Navntoft/Ritzau Scanpix

The proposal, announced in the coalition policy agreement, will enable increased spending on national defence, the government says.

The plan to scrap a public holiday has received a mixed response. Spring’s Great Prayer Day is the most likely holiday to be abolished according to reports.

Economists have raised questions over the government’s calculations behind the plan, after it said the one less public holiday per year would effectively increase the size of the workforce by 8,500 full-time workers.

The government has now published the calculations used to arrive at the figures by which it has claimed the economy will benefit from the plan.

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The Finance Ministry argues the effect of removing a public holiday would be permanent because there is no evidence to disprove this.

Economists who spoke to Danish media, including Jyllands-Posten and Berlingske, have disputed this.

But in the newly-published analysis, the ministry maintains its calculations are correct. It also states that Denmark’s GDP will receive a boost of 9.4 billion kroner if a public holiday is abolished.

The government’s justification that the money is needed to accelerate defence spending has also met opposition and criticism.

The three-party coalition has an overall majority so can push the proposal through parliament without further support. However, it wants to include other parties in a new bill on defence spending.

Initial negotiations on a possible agreement are expected to begin in the near future.

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POLITICS

Denmark’s Social Democrats overtaken by left-wing ally in new poll

The Socialist People’s Party (Socialistisk Folkeparti, SF) has become the party with the most support in Denmark for the first time in a new opinion poll.

Published: 24 June 2024 13:10 CEST
Denmark’s Social Democrats overtaken by left-wing ally in new poll

A new poll from Voxmeter places SF as Denmark’s largest party, should it be replicated in an election vote, with an 18.8 percent share of the vote.

The Social Democrats, traditionally the largest party on the left, received 18.4 percent in the poll. That represents a large drop in support compared to the 2022 general election, when the Social Democrats gained 27.5 percent and went into coalition government with two parties on the right of centre.

The poll result for SF gives it a share 8.3 percent larger than it gained in 2022 and continues the centre-left group’s recent success after becoming the largest Danish party in the EU parliament in the EU elections this month.

Speaking on EU election night, SF leader Pia Olsen Dyhr said the party’s excellent result could be used as a “catalyst” for a new political landscape in Denmark.

The EU election result can fuel further gains for SF when the next general election comes around, Dyhr said in the midst of her party’s celebrations.

“There’s an alternative to this government. There’s an alternative that wants [more] welfare and [to do more for] the climate and we are willing to deliver this in the EU parliament,” she told broadcaster DR.

“It gives us a tailwind and enthusiasm for the party and it means people will be even more ready for local elections next year and the general election further ahead,” she said.

READ ALSO: ANALYSIS: Is left-wing party’s EU election win good news for foreigners in Denmark?

Another notable observation from the poll is that is the worst for the Social Democrats since the 2022 election and since Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen became the party’s leader in 2015.

In 2013, when former leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt was prime minister, the party’s polls dropped as low as 15.8 percent, but they recovered after Frederiksen took over to win the 2019 election.

The other two parties in the coalition government – the Moderates and Liberals (Venstre) – are also struggling in opinion polls.

The new poll gives the Liberals 9.7 percent – compared to 14.7 percent at the EU election and 23.5 percent in 2019.

For the Moderates, the 6.5 percent polling is better than the 5.9 percent achieved by the party in the EU election, but less than the 9.3 percent it gained in 2023.

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