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WHAT CHANGES IN DENMARK

KEY POINTS: What changes about life in Denmark in May 2024?

Sirens (including on smart phones) to be tested, deadline for tax returns, national holidays and a Copenhagen Marathon enjoying record popularity are among events and changes coming this month in Denmark.

Published: 29 April 2024 17:20 CEST
Updated: 1 May 2024 11:38 CEST

KEY POINTS: What changes about life in Denmark in May 2024?

Warmer temperatures are forecast for the first week in May in Denmark. Photo: Linda Kastrup/Ritzau Scanpix

Sirens and mobile alert to be tested on May 1st

Each May, Denmark tests the sirens that authorities can use to warn the population if there is an emergency situation.

The 2024 test is scheduled to take place as usual at noon on the first Wednesday of the month – which this year also means the first day of the month, Wednesday May 1st.

A test of a digital warning system, first introduced last year, will also be tested in 2024. The digital system allows authorities to send siren sounds and warning messages to smartphones.

Last year’s version of the digital test did not reach everyone due to it only being compatible with certain phone updates. So you may find you receive this year even if you did not in 2023.

Anyone with a smart phone connected to the Danish network can expect to receive the test siren and message on their devices on May 3rd at 12pm.

The physical and digital test sirens are sent out by the Danish Emergency Management Agency (Beredskabsstyrelen or DEMA) and the Danish National Police. More information can be found in English (and 10 other languages) on the DEMA website.

Deadline for finalising tax returns

Denmark’s tax authority SKAT opened access to annual tax returns on March 11th.

Annual tax returns (årsopgørelser) in Denmark cover calendar years. They are released in March and finalised in late spring, meaning taxpayers have this period to correct the information on their tax returns from the previous calendar year.

The tax returns encompass income over the preceding tax year as well as deductions and subsidies.

Normally, around three in four people receive money back from the tax authorities once their return is finalised. The amount paid back varies and depends on individual circumstances, and others may owe money to the tax system.

Rebates from the tax system are sent from mid-April onwards but the final deadline for updating information on the returns is May 1st. This means that, at the time of writing, you still (just about) have time to check whether your return is correct and update any information.

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Public holidays and other days off in May

Great Prayer Day or Store Bededag is no longer a national holiday (and fell in April this year anyway) but there are still a few dates to highlight in the diary for time off work.

Ascension Day, Kristi Himmelfartsdag in Danish, is less than two weeks after Great Prayer Day on Thursday May 9th.

Many Danes take the Friday after Ascension Day as annual leave, giving them a four-day weekend at the cost of only one day of leave.

Then there’s Whitsunday and Whitmonday, known in Danish as Pinsedag and 2. Pinsedag. These fall on May 19th and 20th respectively, so that’s another three-day weekend in the middle of the month.

Meanwhile, Labour Day on May 1st is not a public holiday in Denmark – unlike in the other Nordic countries – but many of Denmark’s workers do have the day off (sometimes half a day), provided by their collective bargaining agreements.

Switch to summer tyres (if you haven’t already)

Alternating between winter and summer tyres is not a legal requirement in Denmark, but is broadly recommended, including by FDM, the Danish membership organisation for motorists.

Neighbouring Sweden, Norway and Germany – where many Danish residents head on skiing and other holidays during the colder months – all have rules requiring winter tyres, meanwhile, meaning the practice is common in Denmark, not least for those who may need to take their cars over the border.

Most people switch back to summer tyres at Easter, which this year fell on April 9th. But the weather was still quite wintry during the early part of April, so some car owners may have held out a little longer.

More about the practice of using winter and summer tyres in Denmark can be found in this article.

Copenhagen Marathon ready to go amid massive spike in interest

The Copenhagen Marathon takes place on Sunday May 7th, so if you’re planning to drive or take a bus through parts of the capital that day you should plan ahead to avoid disruption.

The 42.2-kilometre route through the city includes a start and finish area at Øster Allé near Fælledparken. It will take marathoners past Tivoli, Christiansborg and Kongens Nytorv, as well as the charred remains of the old stock exchange, Børsen.

The marathon takes in each of Copenhagen’s central districts: Vesterbro, the Inner City, Østerbro, Frederiksberg and Nørrebro.

There’s usually a great energy along the route, with Nørrebrogade near Dronning Louises Bro (Bridge) and much of Østerbro, particularly around the Trianglen junction, among good places to lend your support.

This year could be a classic edition of the event: there’s been a surge in interest in the sport in recent years, and this year’s Copenhagen Marathon has been sold out for months – something that has not previously happened in the event’s history.

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KEY POINTS: What changes about life in Denmark in July 2024?

Summer holidays begin!

Most schools in Denmark break up for the summer on June 28th, making July 1st the first day of the summer holidays.

Of the five standard weeks or (normally 25 days) of paid vacation covered by the Holiday Act, the “main holiday period” begins on May 1st and ends on September 30th. During this time, three weeks’ consecutive vacation may be taken out of the five weeks.

For those in full or part-time employment who are covered by the Danish Holiday Act (Ferieloven), most will take three weeks off in July, starting on July 1st, July 8th, or July 15th.

Many taking three weeks off in a row, sometimes coinciding with the school holidays (although others break it up).

This is why you may hear Danish colleagues who work full time wishing each other a “good summer holiday” on June 28th as if it’s the end of the school term.

New law making spousal reunion easier

From July 1st, those bringing a foreign spouse to Denmark will have the amount they need to deposit in a bank account accessible by their local municipality halved from 114,000 kroner to 57,000 kroner (both 2024 level), as part of a package of measures on family reunification.

The new lower requirement will require for all residency permit decisions made for foreign spouses after July 1st, and will apply at the time of decision rather than the time of application.

The new law will also change the Danish language requirement for the partner with an existing right to live in Denmark (normally because they are Danish citizens), so that the requirement will be “considered fulfilled” if the resident has spent five years or more in full-time employment or been self-employed in a job that has “significantly involved communication in Danish”.

Finally, the bill will bring in a new opholdsordning or “residence scheme” which will allow returning Danes to bring their families with them based on the same rules which are currently applied to foreign nationals granted work permits in Denmark.

The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (Styrelsen for International Rekruttering og Integration, SIRI) told The Local that in May that it intended to launch a new application page and application form for returning Danes, with details published on the nyidanmark.dk website at the end of June.

New law on recording working hours

From July 1st, all Danish employers are required to introduce a working hours registration system that makes it possible to measure the daily working hours of each individual employee.

The requirement implements a 2019 judgement of the EU Court, with Denmark’s version built on an agreement reached on June 30th last year between the Confederation of Danish Employers, the Danish Trade Union Confederation, and Denmark’s white collar union, the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations.

Under the new law, workers will only need to register deviations from agreed or scheduled working hours, but will have to open the app or web page if they, say, pop out to the dentist or stay late to finish a presentation.

Under the law, employers are required to keep these records for five years.

Employees empowered to set their own schedule — so called self-organisers — are exempt from the law, but as the law states that such people should be able to reorganise their own working time “in its entirety” and that this power should be enshrined in their contracts. This is only expected to apply to the most senior tier of executives.

End to compulsory bank account work permit rule

Foreign workers who receive a work permit under the “researcher” scheme and four so-called “fast track” schemes will no longer be obliged to open and receive payment in a Danish bank account, ending one of the most irrititating bureaucratic hurdles for foreigners coming to work in Denmark.

The exemption will apply to those granted work permits under the “researcher” scheme and also to the “pay limit”, “education”, “researcher” and “short-term” tracks of the fast-track scheme.

To be eligible for a fast-track permit, foreigners need to hired by a so-called “certified” company, typically a mid-sized and large company that hires internationally quite regularly.

For employees still covered by the bank account requirement, the government has meanwhile extended the time limit for setting up a Danish bank account from 90 days to 180 days.

Update to Positive List

The Positive List is a list of professions for which immigration authorities can issue work permits because Denmark is experiencing a shortage of qualified professionals in those fields.

People who are offered a job included in the Positive List can apply for a Danish residence and work permit based on the Positive List Scheme. An educational background in the relevant field is required.

The Positive List Scheme is one of a number of business schemes used to grant work permits for non-EU and EEA nationals who are unable to move to Denmark under the EU’s right to free movement.

The list is updated twice a year, on January 1st and July 1st.

The updated lists can be viewed on the website of the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).

Tax declaration deadlines for businesses and self-employed people

If you are a business owner in Denmark you must register your results for 2023 by June 30th, with self-employed people having until July 1st. Find more details on the Tax Agency’s website here.

Custody hearing for Pole who assaulted Danish PM

The custody of the 39-year-old Polish man suspected of punching Frederiksen on June 7th as she walked in central Copenhagen runs out on July 4th, meaning it needs to be extended in a new court hearing.

The man, who was arrested immediately after the incident, has denied responsibility and says he has no recollection of what happened.

New Copenhagen Metro lines open

Officially opened by King Frederik X on June 22nd, five new stations have extended Copenhagen’s M4 Metro line and can now be used by passengers.

The new stations — Havneholmen, Enghave Brygge, Sluseholmen, Mozarts Plads and Copenhagen South — link Copenhagen Central Station to southern suburb Valby.

The new line will allow people to travel from Copenhagen South in Valby to the Rådhuspladsen in central Copenhagen in anout 10 minutes and to get from Copenhagen South to Frederiksberg at the other end of the M4 line in about 17 minutes.

The total metro network now consists of 44 stations spread over 43 kilometres of track.

Vig Festival

The Vig music festival will be held between July 10th and July 13th in the northwestern part of Zealand, with Infernal, Gobs, Zar Paulo, Mads Christian, ISSE, Gabriel Jacobsen, and Rasmus Seebach all on the bill.

Tickets: A one-day ticket costs between 925 kroner and 1,025 kroner depending on the day you attend. Children up to the age of 11 can enter for free, as long as they are accompanied by a paying adult.

A full festival three-day ticket costs between 1,375 kroner and 1,825 kroner, depending how early/late you buy. A full festival family ticket for one adult (18+) plus a child aged 12-15, costs 2,125 kroner.

Copenhagen Jazz Festival (and Aarhus and Aero)

The streets of Copenhagen will hum with the groovy sound of summer jazz as the latest edition of the Copenhagen Jazz Festival begins on July 5th and continues for ten days until July 15th.

The annual festival is unique in that it does not have a specific location, but is played out in parks, on squares and in bars (and, of course, jazz clubs) across the capital. The size of the venues ranges equally from intimate and spontaneous to major concert halls.

Over 1,200 concerts are scheduled to take place across 120 venues and you can check out the programme on the event’s website.

For those of you who really cannot get enough jazz, there’s also the International Jazz Festival in Aarhus from July 13th to july 20th and the Ærø Jazz Festival on one of the idyllic islands south of Funen from July 31st to August 3rd.

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