the copenhagen post - jan 14-20

Vol. 14 ISSUE 214 - 20 jan 2011

ThE DanISh nEwS In EnglISh

News 2

News 3

opiNioN 6

busiNess 15

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It’s one happy mummy, two for the royals

ThE linE of succession to the Danish throne grew by two last week, as Crown

Princess Mary gave birth to two healthy babies at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen on January 8.

The 38-year-old Tasmanian-born Mary gave birth to the ba-bies naturally, with her husband Crown Prince Frederik by her side throughout the labour.

The 42-year-old heir to the throne then announced the ar-rival of his twins in the hospi-tal’s lobby.

“it’s a miracle,” he said. “There’s two small hearts to keep an eye on.”

The first child, a boy, was delivered at 10:30 am, weighing 2674 grams and measuring 47 centimetres. The second child, a girl, was born 26 minutes later, weighing 2554 grams and meas-uring 46 centimetres. The twins reportedly both have dark hair.

This is the first time twins have been born into the Danish Royal Family since 1626.

The twins are the third and fourth children for the royal couple. Their first-born, Prince Christian, was born in 2005 and is second in line to the throne

“About yay big.” Crown Prince Frederik was all smiles following the birth of healthy twins

Foreign financial houses consistently outperform domestic stockbrokers

Guest contributor argues that to preserve the welfare system, government size and scope must be reduced

While parents nationwide soundly reject lunch programme, Copenhagen residents approve the plan

Foreign nationals hit with new resident permit processing fees; see how much you will be paying

after his father. Princess isabella was born in 2007 and is third in line. The twins are fourth and fifth in line, pushing Fred-erik’s younger brother, Prince Joachim, even further down the line to number six.

The two older siblings were smuggled into the hospi-tal through a tunnel, a parking lot and a hidden elevator to see the newborn twins on Sunday morning, according to Austral-ia’s herald Sun.

“it is still quite unrealistic

By Dominique Barir jensen

for them, even though they have been following their mother’s beautiful growing stomach,” said Frederik to the newspaper.

According to Danish tradi-tion, the names of the babies will not be announced until the christening, which is expected to be held in three months. in the meantime, Frederik joked that as they share their birthday with Elvis Presley, “we can call one of them Elvis for now” – a tongue-in-cheek remark that was apparently misinterpreted

by some of the many interna-tional press covering the birth.

immediately following the twins’ birth, the name guessing-game began. Although tradi-tional Danish names are pre-ferred for members of the Royal Family, they are only mandatory for the firstborn. The announce-ment of isabella’s name stirred up some rumblings for being too non-Danish.

Veteran royal experts are predicting that the twins will also get non-Danish names.

‘Elvis’ and his sister are two newest additions to the Danish Royal Family

CIA cover-up leads to breach of trust charge

ThE GoVERnMEnT is be-ing accused of double-deal-ing in regards to the illegal

transportation of CiA prisoners over Danish airspace, including Greenland, and now a Green-landic member of the Danish parliament says the case high-lights the need for Greenland to take over foreign policy issues.

“We Greenlanders cannot continue to accept the chang-ing views of each new foreign minister,” lars-Emil Johansen told The Copenhagen Post. “We need more influence on our for-eign policy.”

Johansen and Greenland’s other member of the Danish parliament, Juliane henning-sen, have joined the opposition by demanding an independent investigation into the govern-ment’s alleged behaviour.

“The case has created enough disagreement as it is,” henningsen told Politiken newspaper. “So we need to

Photo: Scanpix

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Government chose US interests over the Danish Commonwealth, Greenlandic MPs say

By Dann Vinther

CIA continues on page 5

news In & ouT CommunITy

4 G2 11

They’re living itup at the hotel Europa. Check in and check it out – it’s a lovely place

A female expat’soutsourcing consultancy firmis flourishing inthe city centre

With a flattering TV portrayal and an unfavorable supreme court ruling, it was a mixed week for PM

news2 ThE copEnhagEn poST janUary 14 - 20

Cost of being a Dane

DAniSh citizens have become bad business for the welfare state. A Dane born today will cost so-ciety some 850,000 kroner more than he or she will pay back in taxes over a lifetime, reports Ber-lingske Tidende newspaper. That is an increase of 100,000 kroner on 2004 figures, according to a new forecast by the Centre for Political Studies (CEPoS). “As things stand, the Danish welfare model is not viable. it is steer-ing straight towards doom,” said Mads lundby-hansen, the chief economist at CEPoS.

President and Publisher Ejvind Sandal

Chief Executivejesper nymark

Editor in Chief(responsible under Danish press law)philip g Shepherd

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InformATIon

In BrIef

CoPEnhAGEn has lost some 10,000 parking spaces over the past ten years. But now political parties have been summoned to discuss a new parking strategy for the City Council. “We need more spaces for the city’s cars, and those spaces would prefer-ably be underground,” technical and environmental mayor Bo Asmus Kjeldgaard told Ber-lingske Tidende newspaper. The challenge, according to Kjeldgaard, is not to compro-mise the goal to get more people to use public transport.

More parking spots

Ticket prices going up

PuBliC transportation prices are going up after January 18. A two-zone single ticket rises from 23 to 24 kroner and a 10-ticket klippekort goes up from 135 to 140. Frequent commuters, how-ever, need not worry, since the price increase will not affect monthly travel cards. life will also become more expensive for those who travel without tickets – fines go from 600 to 750 kro-ner. Klippekort prices have in-creased 55 percent over the last ten years. on a more positive note, commuters can now trav-el with their bikes on regional trains in suburban areas of Co-penhagen, an offer introduced on S-trains last year.

Two dead of H1N1

TWo MEn in their 50s died of influenza A (h1n1) on Tues-day in Skejby hospital north of Aarhus. Else Smith, the director of the Board of health, called the deaths tragic but not sur-prising. “For the vast majority, the influenza is harmless - and this goes for h1n1 as well. But there are unfortunately some who become severely ill and some that die,” said Smith. neither of the two men had any chronic illnesses, nor did they belong to any risk groups. Smith said that the deaths should not make people wor-ried, but underscored the impor-tance of being aware of danger signals. The board recommends that people contact their doctors if they are ill with a high fever for more than three days or are struggling to breathe.

whilE the vast majority of childcare centres na-tionwide rejected an op-tion to establish council

run lunch programmes last month, some 25,270 children in Copenhagen will continue to dig into institutional meals for at least the next two years.

Some 84.5 percent of city nurseries (vuggestuer) and day-care institutions (børnehaver) voted to continue the pro-gramme after the one-year trial period comes to an end in July. on the national level, some 73 percent of childcare facilities have voted down plans to im-plement lunch programmes. A third of local councils say none of their childcare facilities have requested to set up programmes.

The city says that part of the reason for the success was a 100 million kroner investment that has both ensured the quality of the food and served as a sign of the city’s commitment to parents.

“The results in Copenhagen show that parents will support a lunch programme when they know that it’s good quality food,” the deputy mayor for children and youth, Anne Vang, said.

most parents against daycare lunches

Read the full stories atwww.cphpost.dk

For many of those childcare facilities that rejected the pro-gramme, the primary reason was the cost. With fees running up to 600 kroner per month, many, ac-cording to lars Klingberg, head of the national Association of Parents, feel they can offer more to their children for less.

Parents, Klingberg said, were also worried about the gov-ernment’s commitment to the programme after it backed down from its original plan of making provided lunches mandatory for all childcare facilities.

According to the Welfare

Though it was approved in Copenhagen, most childcare facilities voted down the lunch programme

Commission, an independent government-appointed body tasked with finding ways to shore up social services, one in five children do not bring an ad-equate lunch to school and the programme was to ensure that all children received a mini-mum standard.

however, the plan met with resistance, particularly after re-ports that some councils were considering options such as vacuum-packed sandwiches trucked from Germany, and the government said it would per-mit individual facilities to make

their own decision.one of the councils where

the programme was resound-ingly voted down was in the Copenhagen suburb of lyngby-Taarbæk. none of its 37 child-care facilities voted in favour.

According to the parents’ association at the Garantien nursery, the lunch programme was “a solution to a problem they don’t have”. in a letter to parents, the association recom-mended the current practice of having parents make lunches as the cheapest and least time-consuming for teachers.

D iSRuPTionS caused by the construction of the new Metro City Ring line could

force some stores to close, re-ports Politiken newspaper.

“hundreds of stores lo-cated close to the construction sites across the city will expe-rience some form of inconven-ience that will drag down their sales,” according to Jan Michael hansen of the retailers’ associa-tion Copenhagen City Centre.

Begun last year, the con-

struction of the 17-station loop is not expected to be completed until 2018.

only stores located adjacent to construction sites can seek compensation for lost business. According to the committee es-tablished to investigate claims, a maximum of 30 percent are likely to be approved.

“That’s the way it is when you run a business in a city where there are often public works projects,” said Jørgen

Poulstrup, the city’s coordinator for Metro activities. “it will be more difficult for customers and goods to reach stores.

Metroselskabet, the com-pany that operates the under-ground railway, has already set aside funds for compensating affected businesses. it declined, however, to state how much it expected to pay out, or how much compensation businesses received during the construction of other Metro lines. (km)

metro construction causes growing pains

It’s been rough going for cyclists and motorists alike this winter

Only a third of stores can expect compensation for lost business

Photo: Metroselskabet

snow removal not up to snuff, councillor admits

Photo: Scanpix

ThE CiTy’S snow removal service so far this winter “could have been much bet-

ter than it has been”, Bo Asmus Kjeldgaard, the deputy mayor for environmental and technical affairs, has admitted. But he ex-plained to Politiken.dk that the city had not budgeted for back-to-back snowy winters.

“This is the second extreme-ly tough winter in a row, and we had no way of foreseeing this when we laid out the budgets.”

Kjeldgaard’s comments come after widespread criticism of the city’s snow removal.

“The snow clearing has not been good enough. it’s worse than it usually is,” said John lindbom, chairman of the Taxi

Committee. “nobody is salting the streets at night, which means that the snow turns to ice, and we can’t get through.”

Cyclists too have been complaining that bicycle paths in Copenhagen have not been cleared properly this winter.

“We must have a higher service level. We should be at the same level as Frederiksberg Council, where the bike paths are cleared and the streets are black and free of snow the day after a snowfall. it takes five to six days here in Copenhagen,” said Jakob

næsager, the traffic spokesper-son at the City Council.

“We claim to be the world’s leading cycle city and ask resi-dents to use their bikes. When residents stick to their end of the deal, we need to live up to our promises. And we simply haven’t been good enough at do-ing that and clearing the roads.”

The city set aside 35 million kroner for winter services for 2010. however, the council had already spent 46 million kroner on ploughing, sanding and grit-ting during the first few months of last year.

“We ended up using over 63 million kroner on winter serv-ices in 2010, and this money needs to be found from other places,” said Kjeldgaard, adding that the people clearing snow couldn’t “work miracles” with the resources they have. (dbj)

City Council caught off guard by second snowy winter in a row

Photo: Maria Sattrup

City of Copenhagen bucks trend by approving council-run lunch programmes

By Kevin Mcgwin

3ThE copEnhagEn poST janUary 14 - 20 news

IT Will now cost foreign nationals thousands of kroner to apply for family reunifica-tion, work or study permits.on 1 January, a new

processing fee was introduced for foreign nationals applying for a residence permit, an ex-tension of a residence permit, or a permanent residence per-mit in the areas of family reuni-fication, study and work.

An application for family re-unification, for example, would cost 6,000 kroner under the Danish rules, whereas it would still be free under Eu rules.

The fees, introduced as a part of the government’s eco-nomic restoration package, are expected to bring the state some 140 million kroner a year.

Critics have voiced their concerns, arguing that the fee will turn professionals away from Denmark and lead to them instead consider other countries where the fees are lower or non-existent.

“This is the wrong signal to send out to foreign workers,” said Martin Kabongo of the Confederation of Danish indus-try. “We need them more than

they need us, and that’s why the fees are just silly.”

This view is shared by Ex-pat in Denmark, a network of foreign professionals living in Denmark. According to Craig Till, the head of the secretariat, most expats already find Den-mark an expensive destination,

New fees meant to bring in 140 million kroner a year, but industry leaders warn it will backfire

By Dann Vinther

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International companies focus sights on Danish businessesDanisco bid could get the acquisition ball rolling, experts say

DAniSh food ingredient and enzyme giant Danisco this week received a 36 bil-

lion kroner takeover bid from uS-based chemical producer DuPont. The two companies currently collaborate on the con-struction of bioethanol plants, and with the likely acquisition, DuPont will attempt to take ad-vantage of Danisco’s position in the food ingredient market.

While this would be one of the biggest business deals in Danish history, it looks like 2011 will see several other big acquisi-tions by international companies.

“This bid shows us that the market for mergers and acqui-sitions has come back to life,” lars Topholm, an analyst at fi-nancial house Carnegie, told fi-nancial daily Børsen.

numerous renowned Dan-ish companies could be bought up by big multinational compa-nies. insiders have named Dan-ish companies such as Vestas, nKT, Topdanmark, FlSmidth and B&o as possible targets.

“There is no doubt that the spotlight will be pointed at Denmark now,” said Frederik Aakard, a partner at consultancy firm Audon Partners. “The Du-Pont/Danisco bid is massive,

and it could lead the world’s attention to other listed compa-nies that might be vulnerable.”

According to Aakard, the business world’s eyes will main-ly focus on businesses that have struggled with low share prices for some time, and that have no protection against being taken over – for instance in the shape of a dominant shareholder.

Financial experts have pointed to Vestas as one of the companies most likely to be ac-quired by an international indus-try giant, since the company’s share price has plummeted over

the past year. Contrary to common belief,

a new wave of business acquisi-tions could actually lead to more jobs in Denmark, according to Peter Ørberg Jensen, a leading researcher in international busi-ness acquisition.

“These companies are all more or less knowledge-based, and so their success relies a lot on their employees,” said Jensen. “Potential buyers would therefore make an effort to maintain those jobs. otherwise they would just erode the value of what they just bought.” (dv)

Family reunification

Work permit

Work permit (green card scheme)

Work permit (self-employed)

Students, including PhD students

Researchers

Au pairs and interns/religious workers

Extension of family reunification

Extension of work permit

Extension of greencard

Extension for employees and self-employed persons

Extension for students, including PhD students

Extension for researchers

Extension for au pairs and interns/religious workers

Permanent residence permit

Appeal a ruling or request to reopen a case

5,975

3,025

6,100

3,900

1,600

3,025

2,125

1,725

2,575

2,800

2,575

1,600

2,575

1,650

3,500

750

and the new fees will only serve to strengthen that view.

“Denmark’s introduction of fees for green cards is a shot in the foot,” he said. “Every-one now agrees that Denmark must attract and retain quali-fied foreign labour, yet the fees serve only as a deterrent – and,

Foreign nationals must now pay permit fees

JiAo yu: “i think most of the applicants can afford the new fees if they intend to stay for long. But if they have no rela-tives or close friends living here, the continued tightening of the rules will hinder foreign talents from coming to Den-mark to work and to further contribute to Danish society, even though the Danish gov-ernment is trying its utmost to attract foreign intelligence.

“The gap between what the state offers and what the busi-ness community needs grows even more with this new fee. in the Chinese community, i think paying the fee is not a

big problem, but we expect that the immigration office can process our application faster than previously with this fee.

“The foreign students and professionals who are here already don’t have that many options: they need to pay the visa extension fee anyway, whereas for potential students or staff coming to Denmark from China the rule may act as a push-away factor to prevent the Chinese from seeking their further education or work here.

“i’ll pay the new fee, but i expect it to buy some working efficiency to minimise the long waiting period.”

profileName : Jiao Yu Age: 31 Years in denmark: 4 Applying for: Green card

de facto, an additional tax – to those who freely choose to come and work here.”

he said that Denmark is in competition for the sharpest minds, and the fees are there-fore not a progressive step in the right direction.

According to integration minister Birthe Rønn horn-bech, the new fees will not have a negative effect, and they are necessary for the economy. “We need money in the public purse and that’s why we’re introduc-ing these fees. We cannot main-tain a welfare state for free, so if we’re not charging fees, we’ll need to save elsewhere.”

The fees may actually give applicants an advantage, said the minister. “Perhaps the fees will encourage applicants to make an extra effort to send in all the relevant papers, which would help shorten the applica-tion process.”

in 2010, around 50,000 res-idence permits were granted in Denmark.

The new fee will apply to all non-Eu citizens, except Turks. A guest worker rights accord signed in 1963 states that family members of Turkish citizens working in Denmark cannot be subject to different requirements than family mem-bers of Eu citizens, and they are therefore exempt from the new fees.

The continuing tightening of the rules will hinder foreign talents from coming to denmark “

processiNG fees

Details on the fees can be found at www.newtodenmark.dk

As of 1 January 2011, foreign nationals will be required to pay a fee when applying for a resident permit or the extension of a residence permit, as well as to appeal their case.

Does the likely acquistion of Danisco, whose headquarters are shown here, open the door for more Danish companies to be taken over?

news4 ThE copEnhagEn poST janUary 14 - 20

In BrIef

Somali school to close

Wrongly denied

AS MAny as 22 young state-less Palestinians have been de-nied citizenship in Denmark in recent years, despite a un convention requiring it to do otherwise, daily newspaper in-formation reports. And even though immigration officials changed their policy in 2010, stateless Palestinians have not been informed of their rights to citizenship. Denmark is obliged by the un Convention to grant citizenship to stateless minors born here, even if they do not meet the standard requirements regarding language and famili-arity with Danish culture.

ThE TRouBlE-RiDDEn Ca-lamus private school in the Øs-terbro district faces a shutdown, reports avisen.dk. Calamus – which has 120 pupils, all with a Muslim/Somali background – has been accused of gross sex discrimination, academic failure and other violations, accord-ing to a 200-page report from the national School Board. The main problem, according to the report, concerns equal rights. Teaching is divided into gender, and the pupils generally refuse to work with students of the op-posite sex. The report also high-lighted the inadequate Danish and English language skills of the school’s teachers.

Read the full stories atwww.cphpost.dk

LARS lØKKE Rasmussen is a man just like anyone else, TV viewers were told this

week in a documentary about the prime minister’s family life.

According to the 20-minute ‘En helt almindelig ualmindel-ig familie’ (A perfectly normal abnormal family), Rasmussen likes to bike, he makes dinner – when he isn’t working late – and he insisted that his three teenage children became scouts when they were younger.

The family has two dogs, and continues to live in its home in the town of Græsted. The most notable change, ac-cording to Rasmussen’s wife Sólrun, is the constant attention from the press and the 24-hour surveillance and temporary guard house that takes up half of the neighbour’s garden. “But those are things we’ve got used to,” she said.

Some of the footage from the film comes from a 2009 DR2 documentary looking at the life of the wife of the prime minister, but critics are accus-

ing the TV station of giving her husband a free political adver-tisement at a time when elec-tion rumours are in the air.

Some, including henrik Qvortup, who served as di-rector of communications for Rasmussen’s predecessor in the Prime Minister’s office, have called the programme “a gift”.

Arne notkin, general man-ager of DR2, defended the decision to broadcast the pro-gramme, arguing that it was a non-political film, and that the election has yet to be called.

“if we acted as if an elec-tion had been called, we could just as easily have been criti-cised for letting politics influ-ence a decision not to air it,” he said, pointing out that the station also airs critical news programming, including the

Critics claim the DR2 film was timed to coincide with rumours of an election

highly-regarded Deadline news programme.

According to Rasmus Jøns-son, the director of communi-cation for the liberal Alliance party during the 2007 election, personal profiles have become increasingly important for poli-ticians.

“Giving voters a look at politicians’ private lives means a lot for their careers. it gives us a look at the person behind the politician and the kind of life they live,” Jønsson said.

But even though he disa-greed with notkin about the programme’s political aspects, he had no objections to the broadcast or its timing.

“There’s always an adver-tising element in these sorts of things and politicians make a conscious decision to do them based on whether it will help them or not,” Jønsson said.

But for politicians like Ras-mussen, who have an “ordinary guy” image, he said, profiles showing them on the home front have a limited impact.

“But that’s mostly because we weren’t surprised. had it depicted the personal life of a more private politician, we would have got much more out of it.”

In A SuRPRiSE decision, the Supreme Court gave 35 plain-tiffs the go-ahead to sue the

prime minister for allowing par-liament to ratify the lisbon Trea-ty without holding a referendum.

in october 2009, the East-ern high Court refused to per-mit the group to sue the PM on the grounds that there was no legal interest.

A unanimous Supreme Court, however, decided on Tuesday that the plaintiffs do have a legal interest in the matter, and will be allowed to bring their case before a high Court judge.

Since the lisbon Treaty has a “comprehensive and intru-sive rule”, the claimants have a “substantial interest” in having

their claims heard, according to the Supreme Court ruling by seven judges.

“i’ll take note of that,” said lars løkke Rasmussen right af-ter the news leaked in during his press meeting on Tuesday. “This does not change my assessment of the matter. There is nothing for the court to come after.”

The parliament will be per-mitted to delegate sovereignty to international organisations such as the Eu to “some extent”.

in 1996 a group was permit-ted to take then-PM Poul nyrup Rasmussen to court for violat-ing the constitution in connec-tion with the enactment of the Maastricht Treaty.

The group lost, and when deciding not to hear the case the Eastern high Court said the 1996 decision had set the legal precedent. (dbj)

Opinion polls yield mixed results

Going digital

TWEnTy-ninE of the country’s 98 local councils have decided to use digital electoral regis-ters in the forthcoming general election. “We’re seeing a great interest in digital electoral reg-isters,” Karen nielsen, the vice president of iT company KMD, told public broadcster DR. “And so we can expect to see a digital general election.” By using a PC and a bar code scanner, election officials can register the voters in seconds and hand over the ballot. “We’d like to make the voting process as quick and trou-ble-free as possible,” said Anne lise hansen, who is in charge of elections for hillerød Council. “That’s why we have decided to use digital registers in our poll-ing stations for the upcoming general election.”

union ties early retirement reform to tax cuts for rich

ThE nATion’S largest trade union has accused the

government of seeking to cut the national early retirement programme as a way of financing tax cuts for the rich.

in several of last week’s newspapers, the 3F union ran advertise-ments claiming that sacrificing “the early retirement programme will make way for new tax cuts for the rich. [PM lars løkke Ras-mussen] will eliminate early retirement, while [Conservative leader lene Espersen] will give new tax cuts to the richest.”

The attack comes after Es-persen, whose Conservatives are the junior member of the gov-erning coalition, said her party would campaign for lower taxes in the coming general election.

Rasmussen, meanwhile, in his new year’s address, told vot-ers that the country could not afford the 16 billion kroner the programme is estimated to cost each year.

The prime minister has reas-sured voters that no tax cuts are in the works. Meanwhile Espe-rsen rejected the claim that the two issues were linked.

“The money we save by cutting the early retirement pro-gramme should be used to shore up the economy. The discussion about growth in the long-term comes in addition to that,” she said, adding that money for pro-posed tax cuts would be found “another way”.

Despite the assurances, criticism of the party’s position continued after it ran advertise-

ments of its own stating its sup-port for elimination of the early retirement programme. in the same advertisement, the party lays out its other key issues, in-cluding lower taxes.

“We want to motivate peo-ple to do more, and making it worthwhile for people to work longer is the way to do this. We will cut income taxes in order to get people to do more.”

Party spokesperson, MP henriette Kjer, however, said the two statements were not linked. “We believe voters are smart enough to understand the message.”

in another advertisement, 3F declared that: “løkke will eliminate your early retire-ment. he himself can retire as a 62-year-old with 609,365 kroner a year in his retirement pension.”

The union has set up a Fa-cebook page around their cam-paign, Skævt (skewed) which focuses on what they call “an increasingly unequal Den-mark”. it has garnered nearly 85,000 fans. (km)

Government denies the two issues are related

Ordinary, average guy? The timing of DR2’s film about Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s family has been criticised

Photo: Scanpix

Liberals gain ground in two recent polls, while a third shows strong support for Social Democrats

By Kevin Mcgwin

DA

NM

AR

KS

ST

ÆR

KE

ST

E F

AG

FO

RE

NIN

G

Anmeld selv flere skævheder på skævt.dk

EFTERLØNNEN SKAL GIVE DE RIGE NYE

SKATTELETTELSER.(LØKKE VIL AFSKAFFE DIN EFTERLØN, MENS LENE VIL GIVE NYE SKATTELETTELSER TIL DE RIGESTE)

Trade union 3F has been running ads critical of the plans to eliminate early retirement

Wake-up counsellor

loCAl authorities have de-clared war on the increasing problem of children cutting classes and are trying out various ways of combatting the problem. in the Jutland town of Viborg, a wake-up counsellor has been appointed. her task consists of waking pupils up in the morning and even picking up the ones that have the worst attendance record. Parents and schools in Viborg have reported great success with the new project and now other councils are considering it.

not your ordinary campaign advert

A SERiES of opinion polls re-leased last week indicate that this year’s general election

could be one of the most hotly contested in recent memory.

According to a Politiken/TV2/Megafon poll released last week on Thursday, Prime Min-ister lars løkke Rasmussen’s centre-right alliance has the sup-port of 50.9 percent of voters. however, a Greens/Børsen poll released on the following day showed the opposition leading with 53.5 percent of voter sup-port and a Gallup poll released

the same day showed the oppo-sition receiving the support of 52.4 percent of voters.

The prime minister’s lib-eral Party saw an uptick of sup-port in all three polls, with the party earning the support of 24.3 percent in the Gallup and Poli-tiken polls, and 21.6 percent in the Greens. The improving fig-ures came after Rasmussen an-nounced he would seek to elimi-nate the national early retirement programme. Meanwhile, the Gallup poll showed that support for helle Thorning-Schmidt’s Social Democrats is at 31.3 percent - its highest in over six years. The Politiken and Greens polls put support for the Social Democrats at 29.2 percent and

25.5 percent respectively.The polls also show sup-

port for the Conservatives at a historic low. The party earned 10.4 percent in the 2007 gen-eral election, but in the Greens poll, the junior member in the governing liberal-Conservative coalition has fallen to 4.5. The party’s problems at the polls come amidst recent high-profile party infighting.

Rasmussen has yet to call an election, but must do so before november. Some political pun-dits are predicting that the latest developments increase the like-lihood that he will call a quick election sometime this spring in order to capitalise on the per-ceived momentum. (km)

High court: PM can be sued over Lisbon Treaty

Giving voters a look at politicians’ private lives means a lot for their careers

“

Plaintiffs say prime minister was required to hold referendum

5ThE copEnhagEn poST janUary 14 - 20

Factfile | greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the kingdom of Denmark. In 1979, Den-mark granted home rule to Greenland, in a relationship known as ‘Rigsfællesska-bet’ (Commonwealth of the Realm). As part of the realm of the kingdom of Denmark, Greenlanders elect two rep-resentatives who sit in the Danish parliament. In 2008, Greenland voted to transfer more powers to the local government. This became effective in the following year, with the Danish gov-ernment in charge of only of foreign affairs, security and financial policy.

news

know what took place and what was said.”

Greenland’s premier Kuupik Kleist, a mem-ber of Greenland’s inuit Ataqatigiit party along with henningsen, has ar-ranged an extraordinary meeting with lars løkke Rasmussen, the prime minister, and foreign min-ister lene Espersen to clarify the issue.

The case about CiA’s transportation of prison-ers dates back to 2008 and has re-emerged thanks to documents recently pub-lished by Wikileaks. The leaked reports indicate that the government was double-dealing in 2008 when it was forced to check whether the CiA had used Danish airspace for the transport of detainees, reports Politiken newspaper.

leaked documents from the uS Embassy in Copenhagen reveal that while the govern-ment promised the parliament it would ask critical questions of the uS regarding the flights, James Cain, who was uS am-bassador in Copenhagen at the time, said that then-Prime Min-ister Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s government was not actually interested in investigating the alleged CiA flights.

Per Stig Møller, who was foreign minister at the time, has vehemently denied allegations

that he misled parliament.Months after the first parlia-

mentary debate about the CiA flights, the government called on uS authorities for clarifica-tion, but they received no reply.

Prime Minister lars løkke Rasmussen has refused to com-ment on the issue.

“i will not comment on leaked documents,” he told broadcaster TV2. “The issue has been dealt with and the former foreign minister has answered questions about it in parliament.”

Commentators have re-ferred to this case as the big-gest cover-up since the so-called Thule case in 1957, when Dan-ish authorities indirectly gave the uS permission to store atomic weapons in Greenland.

WikiLeaks documents show that former prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen (left) allegedly wasn’t interested in getting the truth out of former US ambas-sador James Cain (right)

Photo: Scanpix

AnTiDEPRESSAnT medi-cations continue to be ap-proved by the Danish Med-

icines Agency, despite evidence that many are no better than placebos.

“in about 50 percent of the tests we see, the medicine does not do better than the placebo,” said Dr. Jens heisterberg, of the Danish Medicines Agency. “it’s a huge problem that gives us headaches when we have to look at an application for a new product.”

Despite too many failed

tests, new antidepressants con-tinue to be approved.

“it’s a difficult area, and we need to do our best to interpret the figures. We can’t say no to everything just because it’s hard to prove that the medicine works,” said heisterberg.

Professor Peter Gøtzche from the nordic Cochrane Cen-tre, which specialises in medi-cine quality, disagrees.

“it’s scandalous. When a medicine does not work better than a placebo, it might be be-cause it doesn’t work at all,” said

The Cosmo- International School of Southern DenmarkThe Cosmo- International School of Southern Denmark

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The Philosophy of The CosmoAt The Cosmo – International School of Southern Denmark we strive, in collaboration with parents, to develop the full potential of each individual stu-dent in a caring and secure learning environment. We value cultural diversity, academic excellence and mutual respect all which contribute to the education of future citizens, who value freedom with responsibility and a democratic disposition.

We strive for our students to obtain basic values such as tolerance, integrity and compassion contri-buting to their self-confidence and independence.

The Cosmo – International School of Southern Denmark attaches great importance to profession-alism, activity and community spirit. The Cosmo provides a vibrant international environment with

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education

ThE AVERAGE waiting time for operations at hos-pitals has decreased by 10

days since last year, and by al-most 40 days since the liberal-Conservative government came to power in 2001, reports Ber-lingske Tidende newspaper.

Danish patients now wait an average of 52 days to receive an operation.

“Waiting lists have never been this short,” said Bertel haarder, the health minister. “The free choice of hospitals and the establishment of private-sector alternatives have contrib-uted to the reduced waiting time and the public hospitals are able

to take on more than in the past.” healthcare funding has in-

creased by about 20 billion kro-ner since 2002, and a treatment guarantee passed in the same year has given patients the right to treatment in private hospitals if the waiting time at hospitals run by regional authorities is over a month.

“We have very effective hospitals here. And when the economy is under pressure, we become more motivated to reor-ganise, so more are treated on an outpatient basis, and the hospi-talisation times are shortened,” said ulla Astman, chairwoman of the health committee at the national Association of Region-al Authorities.

Waiting times have de-creased while many hospitals

have cut staff. But according to economists, the layoffs have primarily affected service func-tions, not treatment capacity.

Additionally, the overall focus on public spending may have led to general practition-ers recommending fewer opera-tions, which would have caused waiting times to decrease even further. (dbj)

shortest ever hospital waiting times Reduced waits for treatment comes despite tighter budget

Peter Gøtzsche, who said that he is shocked that the Danish Med-icines Agency itself is providing documentation that these medi-cations work.

“it’s like making your own evidence for court. We have seen examples of serious side effects being hidden, with only the most positive studies published,” he said. “obviously, the consumer is not being properly protected.”

Gøtzche said he believes that medicine should be tested by in-dependent researchers to ensure that the results are reliable. (dbj)

some antidepressants worse than placebos

CIAcontinued from page 1

Waiting lists for operations are 40 days shorter than ten years ago

Photo: Pamel Juhl

6 ThE copEnhagEn poST janUary 14 - 20CommenTAry

eDITorIAL oPInIon

reADer CommenTs

who is ... Bamse?

as though he aimed at any one individual when he pulled the trigger, my attention was com-pletely focused on the weapon in his hand. i didn’t realise until a few seconds later that he did in fact hit one of the men. i cannot be sure that he shot the man who was kicking the car. if i’m hon-est it was very difficult to keep track of what was going on.

The shooter then sprinted off past Blockbuster and up Vester-brogade. While another young-ster, a teenager it seemed, jumped into the silver opel Vectra before speeding off up Frederiksberg Allé. The five or so men who were left attended to the man who was now lying motionless on the ground as it became clear that he had been hit by one of the bullets. onlookers now felt the incident was over and one or two tried to offer help to the vic-tim. An old woman attempted to put her coat around him as one of his friends rubbed his hand frantically. Another of the group tried to turn the man over and, upon realising the extent of his injuries, threw his hands in the air and shouted “Åh nej!”. i re-member walking past the scene, noticing that there wasn’t a lot of blood considering a man had been shot. Even the sound of the gunfire was fairly muted.

The police were on the scene fairly quickly. i had only retreat-ed five or so yards, moving my

still-sleeping boy into a door-way safe from the commotion. When they arrived, they put up a cordon and asked us where the assailant had went and in which direction the car had sped off. i then couldn’t go anywhere until i had given the police my story.

i thought initially he had been shot in the upper body or, at worst, the neck. i didn’t actually realise until i got home that he had been shot in the head. When the ambulance came, they put him onto a stretcher. it was then that i began to believe he may be dead. his face was expression-less and his limbs hanging from the side. i think everyone knew he was gone, long before they eventually turned off his life-support machine later that night.

i was approached by a jour-nalist who asked me for my ver-sion of events. i remember tell-ing her that only recently i had read a survey somewhere that said that 83 percent of Danes felt safe here. This kind of thing, though i know it happens, is not something you’d expect to see. not least on Frederiksberg Allé. Maybe nørrebro, nordvest, even Amager – but not where i live.

As i got home, it dawned on me that i had given the newspa-per my name and allowed their photographer to take pictures of me. i hadn’t thought that this could be gang-related in any way, despite the people in-

volved or the fact that one had a weapon. To me, it seemed like a fairly normal argument that would probably have been solved, where i come from at least, with a couple of punches. i haven’t stopped thinking about how something so seemingly trivial could result in a man be-ing shot to his death.

The police very quickly re-covered a weapon and arrested a man sitting in a restaurant up the road on Vesterbrogade. Shortly afterwards, it was reported that they had discovered the car in Greve and arrested two others. it later transpired that the sus-pect had links to a gang called Bloodz. This was about the same time as the adrenalin had escaped my body and the re-alisation that my picture in the paper, coupled with the appar-ent gang-related nature of this crime, could be a worry.

As it transpired, the paper printed my story but not my pic-ture the next day. i can’t help but think this incident would have been a bigger news story if the victim had been a white Dane. The incident is still very much in my mind, though it seems that the news and the streets move on. i went back to the scene later that night as i was about to em-bark on the new year celebra-tions. The only evidence of the incident was the police cordon around the front of the shop.

no, we haven’t forgotten that we did a Who is? on Bamse in 2010. This is a different Bamse – Flemming ‘Bamse’ Jørgensen in fact. This Bamse is, or rather was, a Danish singer and actor.

Will this be one of your subtle-hint-of-humour articles?Actually no. This is because this Bamse, rather sadly, died on new year’s Eve, and we should show a little respect. it is also because, after doing our research, we didn’t come up with anything you could really laugh at. Even though his music is probably not to your taste, he seems to have been a genuinely nice man.

There must be something that could make me giggle?oK, take a look on youTube, under ‘Bamses Venner – Ven-ner kom og se’. Seeing his less-than-perfect physique dressed up in a French onion-seller’s shirt and a pair of dun-garees might make you chuckle a little, or perhaps the fact that local newspaper Aarhus ons-dag wrote (after his death) that he would be performing at a concert on January 9. Aside from spooking some Aarhus residents, you might also snig-ger a little.

You say he was nice – how so?he did a lot of work to sup-port child sufferers of diabetes. When his team of singers won the TV2 programme ‘All Stars,’ he donated his entire 250,000 kroner of prize money to chil-dren with diabetes in Aarhus (the city where he grew up).

Why did he choose diabetes in particular?he himself was a sufferer of Type ii diabetes and his son was diagnosed with Type i diabetes when he was six years old.

Judging by the picture on YouTube, he was asking to get Type II diabetes.not so fast. After developing the illness he became a model pa-tient. Keeping to the strict diet recommended to him, he lost 50 kilos. unfortunately, according to Danish magazine Se og hør, he had been diagnosed with a weak heart some ten years ago (a condition typically due to over-eating), which may well have led to his fatal heart attack.

ThE FinAnCiAl crisis was a great reminder that economic growth must be obtained on sustainable

principles. Prospering off lev-eraged assets of artificially in-flated value does not qualify as sustainable. The crisis originat-ed as an American phenomenon in part because it is as close to a free market as a country can get. This means it is an economy driven by consumer spending. individual households retain more of their income and can make immediate decisions on how to spend it. The Ameri-can response to the financial crisis reflected these attributes through an overnight shut down of consumer spending and per-sonal debt reduction. Denmark has not been exempt from the crisis and it has its own crosses to bear to emerge as the eco-nomically vibrant country it was pre-crisis. But, where there’s a will there is a way, right?

not so fast.The way is tedious and early

indicators show it may change dramatically post election. Democratic governments cannot make financial decisions over-night. But for Denmark, where individuals give over 60 percent of their income to it, a third of the workforce is employed by it and over half the adult popula-

tion’s income derives from it, decisions on government spend-ing usually require an act of par-liament and often span multiple budget years, assuming they can get made at all. For example, a recent forecast by the Centre for Political Studies showed the av-erage Dane burdens the welfare state by 850,000 kroner over their lifetime. This is a tell-tale sign that government spending on welfare, which is a whopping 44 percent, must be reduced. Moreover, the prime minister’s announced overhaul of the early retirement programme met with immediate political resistance. This leads me to the will.

Danes’ identity comes from the welfare state. Ranking high-est in the happiest People on Earth Study was the greatest ‘atta-boy’ Denmark could get because it recognised it as being the best in the world at what it prides itself most. For any poli-tician to look cross-eyed at the welfare state would be political

whEn PRESEnTED with an orchestrated insight into the lives of highly ex-

posed people, it’s human nature to be sceptical about just how closely it reflects reality.

But even though the glimpses the public were given into the lives of the royal cou-ple and the first family this week can be seen as personal advertising, it’s also possible to catch sight of our own lives in their polished images.

Before it was even shown, DR2’s documentary programme ‘En helt almindelig ualmindelig familie’ (a completely normal abnormal family), had come under attack for being an un-critical propaganda piece on behalf of Prime Minister lars løkke Rasmussen.

it is fair to question wheth-er such a programme should have been broadcast in an election year, but once the po-litical rhetoric died down and the show began, most people watching would probably have seen scenes from a daily life they recognise: a busy father concerned about not spending enough time with his daughter, a working mum who pulls most of the weight on the home front and three teenage children who are happy when their parents are home together, but happier when they are left home alone for a weekend.

only the fewest will ever live a life in the political lime-light, but most of us will rec-ognise what it is like to balance career, family and relationships. Taken out of its political con-text, the family featured in the documentary could have been any family and it was refresh-ing to see that there was nothing perfect about them.

in the case of the royal cou-ple, so far all we know about their newborn twins is what has been recounted by a beaming crown prince. once reputed to be a wild adventurer, Frederik, performing for an eager press, again showed an emotional side that any dad, commoner or roy-al, can relate to.

of course, we’ll never see further behind the scenes than any public figure is willing to permit us to see. We don’t know if the first family has a cleaner, and most parents won’t have the resources of the royal house-hold. But even though we know a performance can’t succeed without its stagehands, once the curtain goes up all that matters is what we can see.

uncommon families are just like us

Following the lives of famous families fascinates for how they differ from –

and are like – ourselves

suicide, and Danes are not prone to challenging their politicians. So where is the will?

Given that 54 percent of Danes recently favoured the proposed overhaul of the early retirement programme, there is something resembling a Will out there somewhere, but for a politician to promote a reduc-tion of the welfare state he or she must pronounce “the em-peror has no clothes”. The gov-ernment’s economic Wisemen were the first to do this in their prediction that Denmark will be bankrupt by 2015 (i don’t think anyone heard them).

unfortunately, all Danes must realise that not only does the emperor have no clothes, but he can’t afford to buy them any-more either. This is a result of the fact that welfare means taxa-tion; like love and marriage, you can’t have one without the other. The welfare state has created a cultural phenomenon that actu-ally supports taxation, thus re-sulting in Danes being the most taxed people in the world. Ag-gressive taxation after the Sec-ond World War was economi-cally viable because Denmark predominately traded with like-minded European countries. however, in a global economy Denmark must compete with China, india, etc.

There are two ways for Den-mark to sustain the welfare state,

Victoria Steffensen

and the default method of “let’s just raise taxes” is no longer vi-able. This leaves the final option of being a sustainable, competi-tive economy again by lowering taxes to drive up taxable eco-nomic activity, as oxymoronic as that sounds.

however, lowering taxes is just the start. it must be followed by a reduction in the power and size of the government. An econ-omy where a third of the work-force is employed by the govern-ment and half of the people are dependent upon it is no longer viable. A more free market obtained through smaller gov-ernment and privatisation will actually strengthen the welfare state. This is evidenced in the re-cent announcement that hospital waiting lists have decreased due to relaxed regulations and the proliferation of private hospitals.

otherwise, if Danes default to their historic Mo of taxation and government-run everything, they may lose more than just their identity. in short, the more they tighten their grip on sus-taining welfare, the more it will slip through their fingers.

If you love your welfare, give it up

The author is a career venture capitalist and CFO who has worked for several funds in the United States and most recently Inventure Capital in Aarhus. He currents owns and operates Böll-stein Development & Research.

Photo: Scanpix

EdITor’s NoTE: on De-cember 31, a 28-year-old man was shot and killed on Fred-eriksberg Allé near Vester-brogade. Three men were ar-rested for the shooting, which was called gang-related by the Copenhagen Police. one of our readers, Scottish expat Davie McCurdie, happened to be at the scene of the crime and offers the following eye-witness account.

i was walking down Frederiks-berg Allé on new year’s Eve at 13:00, when i became aware of a group of around eight Arabic men jostling with each other outside a kiosk on the corner of Værnedamsvej. As i approached, pushing my 18-month-old boy in a pushchair, a woman waiting at the bus stop warned me that i probably shouldn’t continue past the group.

Somebody from the shop then ordered two of the men into their car and told them to drive. They duly obliged and got into the car. Suddenly, another man came from the shop and started kicking the vehicle violently. it was then that the driver exited the car, holding what looked like a 9mm pistol and fired off what i believe to have been four shots. i was only 10 yards away from the incident – i could not have been any closer to it. it didn’t appear

By john F. Dascher

Not only does the emperor have no clothes, but he can’t afford to buy them anymore either

“

The Copenhagen posT supplemenTs and inserTs for 2011!

Wellness* Supplement ** Full colour *

* Interesting articles ** Tips and hints *

mar

chinese embassy supplement* Special Edition *

* Full colour ** Interesting articles *

jan

st. patrick’s* Supplement ** Full colour *


mar

Wondercool* Special Edition *


* Tips and hints *

feb

ConTaCT our sales deparTmenT Today To book your spaCe on 33 36 33 00 www.CphposT.dk

education* Supplement ** Full colour *


relocation* Supplement ** Full colour *


apr apr

jazz festival* Supplement ** Full colour *


jun

british chamber of commerce

* Special Edition ** Full colour *

* Interesting articles *

may

thai festival* Special Edition *


copenhagen cooking* Supplement ** Full colour *


jul aug

blues festival* Insert *


* Tips and hints *

sep

copenhagen expat fair* Special Edition *


* Tips and hints *

sep

christmas lunches* Supplement ** Full colour *


renaissance music festival

* Special Edition ** Full colour *

* Interesting articles *

oct oct

christmasshopping* Supplement ** Full colour *


nov

relocation* Supplement ** Full colour *


oct

8 ThE copEnhagEn poST janUary 14 - 20CuLTure & sPorT

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wiTh iTS fashion design evolving as a pioneer in the field, Denmark is experiencing an un-

precedented boom in its fash-ion industry.

The government and fashion associations are setting out to build capital Copenhagen as the next fashion hub, and fashion has already become Denmark’s fourth largest export item, ac-cording to official statistics.

Generally speaking, Dan-ish fashion is characterised by the style of ‘boho-chic’, which is particular about the choice of material and stresses detail, using such elements as embroi-dery and ornaments.

The garments are often comfortable enough to wear for daily life without compromising on style. Whether riding a bike, attending meetings or going to a party, Danish fashion goes with almost everything.

“in Denmark we are able to design and produce functional and at the same time fashionable clothing. it is fashion for real people,” said ulla Skjødt, trend manager at Dansk Fashion and Textile, in an introductory report of the Danish fashion industry.

What’s more, the fashion in-dustry here has a wide range of

creativity and appeals to many different types of consumers. The original nordic design and more accessible prices com-pared with other international brands are big pluses.

innovation is an important feature of Danish fashion. in-dividual design, which is often less commercial but more artis-tic, is encouraged.

“Everybody is able to make a dress, and everybody can have it produced. But to develop your own identity – this is not something everybody can do,” said Skjødt.

The Danish fashion indus-try today can generally be di-vided into two major categories: trend-driven brands that build their businesses on established trends, and innovation-driven brands that strive to define to-morrow’s design.

The largest Danish fash-ion companies, Bestseller A/S, BTX-Group and iC Companys, which together account for more than 40 brands and 75 percent

of the country’s fashion exports, mainly focus on mainstream ap-parel and mass production.

Trend-forecasting and find-ing inspiration in international designs are essential for the trend-driven companies. Best-seller, one of the world’s leading retail clothing companies, has enjoyed success in this direction.

Bestseller expanded its oper-ation into China in 1996, opening the first franchised store of brand only in Beijing. While intro-ducing European-style clothing, Bestseller also localised to meet the specific demands of the Chi-nese market.

The success of trend-driven companies not only ensures the substantial exports of the Dan-ish fashion industry, but also creates thousands of job oppor-tunities in the midst of a global financial crisis.

if the trend-driven design is, so to speak, the pillar of Danish fashion, then the innovation-driven design is undoubtedly the driving force for the bloom-

ing of trend-driven brands, as it is widely believed that Danish fashion would not distinguish it-self in the international fashion arena but for the smaller innova-tion-driven businesses.

Copenhagen is known as the ideal hub of the innovation-driv-en fashion companies, which fo-cus on producing innovative in-terpretations of times and trends with a strong individual profile.

in general, ‘Danish Design’ has become an effective label to distinguish brands from interna-tional mass production.

The Designers Remix Col-lection label, which will be showing at london’s Fashion Week Spring 2011, is the best representative of the innovative design. Charlotte Eskildsen, de-signer and creative director of Designers Remix Collection,

used such terms as sexy, avant-garde and “somewhat mysteri-ous” to describe the brand.

“My designs are for posi-tive, sophisticated women with poise and power. i love to in-termingle different design ele-ments in a way that redefines femininity and gives women a new reason for feeling beauti-ful,” said Eskildsen.

over the past 10 years, fash-ion has become a priority indus-try, and the government and fash-ion business circles are striving to build Copenhagen as the next great fashion metropolis.

The Copenhagen Fashion Week, the biggest fashion event in northern Europe today, which attracts great numbers of visi-tors from all over the world, is an imperative part of the promo-tion drive.

“Copenhagen is just as qualified as any European me-tropolis to become the next in-ternational fashion hub,” said Eva Kruse, CEo of the Danish Fashion institute.

“What is unique about the Danish fashion industry is that it may not be large in scale but it has a broadness that is rarely seen anywhere else in the world, as it embraces everyone from small upcoming designers and burgeoning talent to big-price and trend-driven businesses with enormous turnover,” she said.

Danish fashion: standing out in a crowded industry

copenhagen is just as qualified as any european metropolis to become the next international fashion hub

“

By wu Bo, Xinhua news

Country has developed an international reputation for designing functional and fashionable clothing

Visitors from all over the world attend Copenhagen Fashion Week, the biggest in northern Europe. The next edition is planned for February 2 - 6.

Photos: Pamela Juhl

A 20-yEAR-olD man this week became the country’s first person to be jailed for

going to see a football match.The man is listed on the

hooligan register, which means that he is not allowed to be within 500 metres of a major football ground. last September he was twice caught together with members of FCK’s hooli-gan firm Copenhagen Casuals youth Division in the vicinity of a football match, putting him in direct violation of the ban.

The first time he was caught, he had to pay a 5,000 kroner fine. But that didn’t stop him.

“We have now reached the point where a fine no longer does the trick,” prosecutor Søren harbo said at the hearing

on Tuesday.The man was sentenced to

ten days in prison.he was listed on the register

back in April 2009 after having served an eight-month prison sentence for violence at a foot-ball game.

Football fan jailed for appearing near stadium

Hooligan registry nets first arrest

The hooligan register was established in April 2008 in re-sponse to increasing instances of violence at football matches. last May the police said the register included 20 people, but that they keep an eye on an ad-ditional 200 people. (dv)

The registry was created to curb unruly behaviour at football matches

Photo: Scanpix

11the copenhagen post JanUaRY 14 - 20 COMMUNITY

An american, Katie Gove, shares her experience of starting her own consult-ing company, Trellis, here in the city, and how’s she’s managing, with the help of her husband and some chocolate, to juggle this with her busy family life!

S tarting your own business is not for the feint-hearted, anyone could tell you that,

but a husband and wife both starting up their own businesses – that must be really tough!

Katie Gove has just done that. Originally from the US, Gove married a Dane, Thomas Snitker, in 2000. After her husband started several businesses, SnitkerGroup and FatDux among them, Gove also took the plunge and started her own business in 2008. Her business, Trellis, is a consulting company focused on helping companies to build strategies and operational environments to succeed when outsourcing.

We met at her offices located at Nytorv in central Copenhagen.

How did you come to the decision to start your own business?

Well, it wasn’t easy to leave the safety net that a steady job provides, but I love the combination of business strategy and partnering/outsourcing that we work with at Trellis. So, if I wanted to work with these two areas in a connected way, starting my own business was the next logical step. So here I am. That being said, I worked in venture capital for five years earlier on in my career; I have seen the dark underbelly of start-ups and

small companies so, truth be told, it wasn’t an easy decision. I knew well what the range of challenges would probably be. Even so, I was so interested in developing this area of business and knew that the market in Denmark was pretty un-chartered. So, I felt that it was a reasonable risk to take.

Do you think Danish business needs the skills your company offers?

One of the best things about Danish companies is that their organisations are so flat: everyone addresses each other using their first names, and there are not many of the traditional hierarchies seen in many countries. This means that they often have a much better environment to have open discussion and information exchange. However, this operational advantage can also be one of their biggest disadvantages in working strategically, especially where outsourcing is concerned. Single departments may choose to outsource, like facilities outsourcing which is huge in Denmark – with companies such as Danish ISS reaping the benefits – but really this type of decision should be a strategic one, one which comes from the top.

I don’t think we should be taking any decisions away from local department heads, but I do believe they should be measured and rewarded according to strategic goals. I strongly believe that outsourcing strategy must be built alongside their business strategy.

What are your qualifications to advise on this subject?

After attending university

in the United States (Boston and Georgetown Universities) I have gained more than 20 years of experience in strategy, innovation and change, in both the US and Denmark. I have worked in a broad range of industrial sectors, ranging from consumer products to pharmaceuticals to technology.

What was it like starting a business in Denmark?

Well, I haven’t started a business anywhere else, so I’ve nothing to compare it with. I also had the help of my husband Thomas. He could obviously give me a lot of advice based on his own experiences. Of course, it wasn’t ideal to start a business just when the financial crisis hit, but it was always going to be difficult at the start, and I’m not sure it was significantly worse because of the crisis.

Denmark has one of the lowest ratios of women on the boards of companies. Do you think that, as some politicians have suggested, there should be a legal requirement for a ratio of women sitting on boards?

I’m not entirely sure making it obligatory is the right way to go, though I certainly think it might help in the transitional period. I am on the board of an organisation that grapples with this issue and which includes a member of parliament, Pernille Vigsø Bagge, on the board. The organisation is an ‘aktionærforening’, which means that it buys (nominal) shares in companies that it wishes to influence. It’s a way of gaining a voice although I wouldn’t say that we’ve achieved a critical mass yet. Although this particular format may or may not be the best one, it’s clear that the position of

woman in the Danish market and on Danish companies’ boards isn’t as strong as it could be, and for that matter, as strong as it needs to be for Danish companies to succeed in the global marketplace.

You and your husband both have your own businesses, his two sons, and a daughter of eight years. How do you manage to fit all these things together?

Duct tape, my type-A behavior, Thomas’ big heart and Peter Beier chocoloate! Ha, ha! Both running our own businesses means that we have a greater understanding of the pressure this places on you. We take it in turns to drop and pick up Sofia from school, and if she needs to go to a dentist or doctor’s appointment we can see whose calendar this fits in best with. We also have two super 8th graders at Sortedamskolen,

Mille and Louise, who do a couple of pick-ups a week that allow us an extra couple of hours on Mondays and Tuesdays. Somehow we seem to work it out in a way that fits for us all.

If you’d like to find out more about Katie Gove or her business, check out her profile on LinkedIn or visit Trellis’ website at www.trellis.dk

COMING UP SOON...Fish and Chip nightJanuary-June 2011, the last Thursday of the month; pay up front – price will depend on the number of interested parties; contact [email protected] to find out moreThis takeaway offer comes courtesy of the fish shop Fisk & Færdigt at HC Ørsteds Vej 37B in Frederiksberg, at a location close to the Vesterbro side of the lakes. The chef is Englishman Simon Longhurst (who was featured in issue 1348 of The Copenhagen Post). As well as being an expert at sourcing, preparing and cooking fish, Simon works on the principle that the price should reflect how much the produce costs, so the price for the six fish suppers – which will be confirmed mid-January – will be tremendous value for money.

Meet the World Café – the world in Denmark – Denmark in the worldTivoli Hotel, Arni Magnussons Gade 2, Cph V; 17:00-19:00 on February 1; Free Adm, register by 12:00 on Jan 31 at [email protected] attention of Anne-Mette BakkemoseHasse Ferrold, the president of International Club Copenhagen, invites the country’s international organisations and people of all backgrounds to attend a new networking platform, which following this first meeting will congregate at the hotel on the first Tuesday of every month.

Learn about how people have achieved success in foreign countries – from both expats in Denmark and Danes abroad. ‘Mingle, talk, get to know new people,’ enthuses Ferrold. The evening includes a performance by world-renowned violinist Michala Høj and pianist Andreas Flensted-Jensen, and an address by Ian Burns.

The Copenhagen Adventurers Groupw w w . m e e t u p . c o m /Copenhagen-AdventurersAdventurers should only apply, but there’s no need to be an Olympic athlete with top-end gear, this group loves beginners and those just looking for something new - unlike the more advanced groups they leave no man behind! Try your hand at climbing, kite-boarding, kayaking and everything in-between as you tackle all terrains. Whether it’s rock faces, the wilderness, rivers or (most importantly) the pub, you’re guaranteed to get your heart racing and your adrenalin pumping. So got some time off? Then leave the sofa and insert some excitement into your life; who knows, you might just have fun.

Afternoon coffee meet up Konditori Antoinette, Østergade 24 B2, Cph K; Sat 14:00; sign up at www.meetup.com/brit-250/calendar/15487167A regular relaxing meeting for old friends and new friends. It

runs every month on the third Saturday of the month and although it isn’t essential to sign up, it’s advised. The event is all about people socialising and networking in a relaxing environment with a nice hot cup of coffee.

Expat in Denmark - January Social Avenue Hotel, Åboulevard 29, Cph K; Thu 17:30-23:00; sign up at www.expatindenmark.comDrinks, food and socialising. These are the backbone of expats regular social. Sign up and feel free to bring a friend along to the festivities. The event gives expats a chance to meet with each other in a relaxed party atmosphere. Unwind with friends after the hectic Christmas season.

LINK ladies in Denmarkwww.linkdenmark.comA group made exclusively for the fairer sex. Link, also known as Ladies’ International Network København, is designed to aid its members in developing a circle of friends. This involves regular activities such as tea tasting and inspirational talks from upstanding female figureheads. So if you’re a new expat and haven’t found your place in Copenhagen life (and of course are a lady), then fill out the online personality questionnaire.

By James Honeyman-Wooler

By Victoria Steffensen

Start–up turns from dream to reality for expat

Katie Gove

GOve´S fIve TIpS fOr dealING wITh The daNeSNetworking via interest groups; there is a greater willingness to open up around a shared interest than in a more undefined social situation (for example, the average cocktail party in the US)Expect to get down to business fairly quickly; come prepared to show what you can doDon’t expect widespread after-work socialising; if you want to socialise more with the Danes, you should extend the invitationDanes have very strong and very large social networks - it’s not unusual that adults have friends from primary school in their networks; it often seems as if they are ‘closed-for-business’ regarding making new friends. However, although they might not make many social acquaintances, if you put enough effort into it, you’ll make truly wonderful friends.If you want to learn to speak Danish, insist upon using it. Danes excel at English and want to use it. It can be difficult for English-speaking natives to keep the conversa-tion in Danish. Persist.

GOve´S fIve TIpS fOr STarTING a bUSINeSS IN deNMarkUse available resources for entrepreneurs. Start with startvaekst.dk. Basically eve-rything you need to know and do is listed there. Virk.dk and Københavns Erhvervs-center are also great resources. Be visible and become knownFocus on what you do best and find partners/vendors for the restNetwork, network, networkBe aware that Denmark is a fairly small and integrated market. It’s not six degrees of separation here: it’s more like three degrees.

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COMMUNITY10 the copenhagen post JanUaRY 14 - 20

Across: 6 Imperil; 7 Tutor; 9 Sleek; 10 Gratify; 12 Derangement; 14 Quicksilver; 18Receive 19 Store; 21 Sever; 22 Frailty.Down: 1 Imply; 2 Delete; 3 Hid; 4 Custom; 5 Confine; 8 Wriggle; 11 Passive; 13 Quieten;15 Clever; 16 Entail; 17 Truth; 20 Cry.

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6. Endanger (7)7. Coach (5)9. Smooth (5)10. Please (7)12. Disorder (11)14. Mercury (11)18. Accept (7)19. Hoard (5)21. Cut (5)22. Weakness (7)

The Copenhagen PostQuick Crossword No 333

Down

1. Signify (5)2. Erase (6)3. Concealed (3)4. Habit (6)5. Enclose (7)8. Squirm (7)11. Inert (7)13. Calm (7)15. Gifted (6)16. Involve (6)17. Veracity (5)20. Weep (3)

Post Quick Crossword No 332Across: 1 Legitimate; 7 Again; 8 Visited; 10 Treasure; 11 Flag; 13 Esteem; 15Crayon; 17 Heap; 18 Metaphor; 21 Pattern; 22 Event; 23 Translates.Down: 1 Lease; 2 Gangster; 3 Tavern; 4 Muse; 5 Totally; 6 Battleship; 9 Degen-erate; 12 Ornament; 14 Traitor; 16 Kennel; 19 Heeds; 20 Keen.

Wicked news, or not so wicked if you can’t understand Danish because this country’s version of the smash hit musical ‘Wicked’, a prequel to The Wizard of Oz’, has finally opened at the Det Ny Teater

The Iraqi ambassador, Dr Albert Issa, addresses those gathered to celebrate the inauguration of the Iraqi Embassy in Denmark and arrival of the first ever Iraqi ambassador to Denmark

Nikolaos Strangas has opened a fantastic new gourmet cake and pastry shop at Åboulevard 7 by Søpavillionen on the Lakes. Here the clearly-proud Greek cake maker shows off his sweets on opening day

Argentina’s ambassador Raúl Alberto Ricardes (centre) says a few words at the farewell reception of his embassy’s first secretary Georgina Fernandez Destefano, a former chargé d´affaires

ABOUT TOWN PHOTOS BY HASSE FERROLD (UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED)

Burkina Faso celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence with a concert, speeches and reception. Pictured here (left-right) are the country’s ambassador Monique Ilboudo, Thyge Christensen, the chairman of the Burkina Faso Friendship, and political and commercial counsellor Michel Somma

The Korean ambassador Geun-hyeong Yim invited many, including representatives of Jutlandia Veterans, to attend a function at his embassy held in connection with the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War

Here Yim is pictured with heart specialist Dr Claus Jessen, the leader of Jutlandia Veterans who was in charge of the Hospital Ship Jutlandia for 18 months during the Korean War

I get on really well with my mother-in-law. Most of the time. She’s elegant and naturally beautiful. Coping more than admirably with the loss of her husband whom she was married to for over 50 years. When you meet the woman that you want to marry, I advise you to look at the mother to see what the future might have in store for you. One glance at my mother-in-law assured me that my wife would not somehow turn into a female weightlifter with a beard after our first child. Indeed that glimpse into the crystal ball has proven to be spot on. My wife is as beautiful as her mum and Ian is a happy man.

However, I said that I got on with my mum-in-law most of the time. There are moments when our relationship gets strained. One area of conflict centres around the kitchen whenever I’m cooking and she stands behind me saying: “Oh, you’re doing it that way!” And then there’s this other sentence that she reserves for me just before each general election: “Who are you going to vote for Ian? Oh I forget you can’t because you’re not Danish!”

I still love her though, and I must stress that our relationship had no influence on my choice of ‘Oleanna’ as my next production, David Mamet’s

play about sexual harassment in early 1990s New York.

Mamet is one of the most famous living writers in the US today. His works include film scripts such as ‘The Postman Always Rings Twice’ and ‘The Untouchables’, and in 1995 he received the Pulitzer Prize for his drama ‘The Cryptogram’. His style of dialogue is so distinctive that it’s become widely known as ‘Mamet Speak’ - an achievement similar to his close friend Harold Pinter.

I promise you that it will be one of the most provocative and funny plays you’ll see this season. Are men and women different species? I know that we can get along, but in this play they do not. A professor is accused of sexual harassment by a female student who he’s actually trying to help. Miscommunication rules the roost and previous productions, for example on Broadway recently, have taken the battle of the sexes to fever pitch. As the PR says: “In a land not too far away there’s one man, one woman and two truths. Whatever side you take, you’re wrong.”

Eight action-packed minutes beckon; rehearsals start in mid–January. Order your tickets via www.billetten.dk, 7020 9620 or www.that-theatre.com.

A resident here since 1990, Ian Burns is the artistic director at That Theatre Company, and very possibly Copenhagen’s best known English language actor thanks to roles as diverse as Casonava, Oscar Wilde and Tony Hancock.

An Actor’s Life

With no Dorothy or yappy dogs in sight, this is strictly a wicked witch show

9the copenhagen post JanUaRY 14 - 20 COMMUNITY

Queen Margrethe, royal consort Prince Henrik and Crown Prince Frederik were all on hand on January 4 to greet diplomats in the parliament building at Christiansborg Palace for the second of the Royal Family’s three annual New Year’s audiences.

Queen’s ambassadorial greetings begins another year at courtBy hasse Ferrold

Israeli ambassador Arthur Avnon (far left), Japanese ambassador Toshio Sano, Indian ambassador Ashok Kumar Attri, and Albanian ambassador Arben Cici were all in attendance

American ambassador Laurie S Fulton was one of 70 foreign envoys to attend the event and receive the queen’s best wishes for 2011.

Russia’s ambassador Teymuraz Ramishvili

The pomp and pageantry was out in full force. The queen was driven to and from the audience in a horse-drawn coach plated in 24-carat gold. Built in 1840, the coach is now used only during the New Year’s audience and other special occasions.

Morocco’s ambassador Raja Ghannam

Burkina Faso’s ambassador Monique Ilboudo India’s ambassador Ashok Kumar Attri

Ukraine’s ambassador Mykhailo Skuratovskyi and China’s ambassador Xie Hangsheng enjoying the occasion.

Japanese ambassador Toshio Sano

Here Fulton is clearly enjoying the occasion alongside South African ambassador Samkelisiswe Isabel Mhlanga.

Saudi Arabia’s ambassador Abdul Rahman S. Al Hadlg

THE COPENHAGEN POST SPOUSE EMPLOYMENT PAGE

PARTNERS:

spouse:From:seeking work in:

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Miss Parminder LallyUnited KingdomCopenhagen in the Biotechnology industry, Patent Law (trainee position), Science communication, Physics tutor/teacherMasters in Physics from Imperial College London. PhD in DNA Structural Nanotechnology from the University of Oxford (thesis to be submitted in Autumn 2010)Science and Engineering Ambassador in the UK – encouraging adults and children to take an interest in science by demonstrating scientific principals in fun and interactive ways. Tutor in undergraduate Physics at the University of Oxford, and some experience of teaching science in school.English (native speaker), Panjabi (fluent), German (basic), Portuguese (basic), Danish (currently learning)Familiarity with the Windows O/S and the MS Office and OpenOffice suites, MATLAB (for mathematical modelling), CorelDRAW graphics package and some basic C/C++ [email protected]


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Dr Bev Sithole.Australia.Social science research, project management, proposal writing and project evaluations.PhD Applied Social Sciences; MSc Environmental Science; BA Hons Geography; Experiences in application of Participatory Approaches; Familiar with various project proposal writing frameworks. I am an experienced social scientist with interdisciplinary training and am also an experienced participatory research, planning and evaluation practitioner. I have worked on governance of natural resources and community development issues in southern Africa and Northern Australia for over 15 years. I have been team leader on a number of research and evaluation projects. I spent more than five years managing projects and writing project proposals involving many organizations [ in the Stockholm Environmental Institute, Sweden) and in the Center for International Forestry Research in Bogor, Indonesia and most recently at LIFE, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.]. I am an experienced communicator and facilitator.Short term or long term work in research, project management or proposal writing. Can deliver training in participatory approaches.English.Basic computer skills.Telephone. HP 27834333 Email: [email protected] Address: Orslevunnderskovvej #2, Bringstrup, Ringsted 4100, Denmark

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Enikő TóthHungaryPsychologyPsychologist (MA), Teacher of English (BA)A beginner in psychology, 10 years of teaching experienceA possibility in getting practical experience in clinical psychology, voluntary work alsoEnglish, Hungarian, elementary French and DanishBasic computer [email protected]

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Ying YuanChinaGreat CopenhagenMedical Degree & Master in Human NutritionPracticed medicine for 2 years China 2000-200. Conducted a clinical trial for ½ year England 2008Work in nutrition, pharmaceutical industry, food industry and health sectorChinese, English and DanishI am experienced in Statistical software SPSS and MINITAB, Nutritional software NetWISP/[email protected] +45 31 36 92 58


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Dolon RoyIndia SjællandMasters in Science(Chemistry), BEd.(Teacher training course) St. John Diocessan School February-May 2005, Kolkata, India. The Assembly of God Church School April-May 2006, Kolkata, India. Disari Public School June 2006-October 2007, India. Research project work Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Copenhagen University, March-July 2009Part time or full time work teaching in primary,secondary or higher school level (Chemistry, Mathematics, Science)English, Hindi, Bengali, Danish (modul 3/modul 5)Microsoft office [email protected]. Mob: +45 60668239



Francesco GrandessoItalyHovedstadenConstructing architect4 years at TFF Engineering 2005-20093 years at ADproject 2002-2005English, Italian & DanishAutoCAD [email protected] Mobile: 50110653


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Anisha KanjhliaIndiaArhus in Teaching/Training/Administration/Media/Public RelationsPost Graduate in Advertising & Communication6+ years of professional experience in Training, Customer Service, Promotions, Brand Marketing, Content Analysis and Team Management. Strong experience in planning and executing initiatives. Extensive training experience and influencing skills that will assist me in building a high potential, motivated and an effective team. Hands-on training in soft skills like crucial conversations and people management Branch Manager & Head of Training for Cosmo Aviation Training School in New Delhi, India. Proficient in analyzing market trends to provide critical inputs for decision making and formulating training strategies. Part time or full time in Aarhus Comfortable with all the basic computer knowledge like Excel, Word, Power Point, Internet browsing…[email protected] P: 4522305837


looking For:language skills:it experience:contact:

Chao WenChinaGreat CopenhagenLanguage teacher (German, Chinese)Teaching Chinese as a foreign language by offering company-course for 2 years, in Germany; teaching Chinese to native speaker in private school for 4 years, in Germany; teaching German as a foreign language by offering private course; exhibition interpreter; translator.Part time or full time in Aarhus Language teacher, translator or interpreterChinese, English, German, DanishWindows, Open office, [email protected] tel.: 48417526


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Chia-Pei CHENTaiwanBusiness Chinese/ Tutorial Chinese teaching in corporations, institutions or International schools.A certified teacher of teaching Chinese as a second language. A degree in Social Science discipline. Continuously participation in training program (organized by Beijing Hanban of CHINA and CBS) to teach Chinese to foreigners in western context. Enrolment to distance Chinese teaching education system that keeps professional Chinese teachers resourceful. I am a certified teacher of teaching Chinese as a second language to foreigners. And I have started teaching Chinese with English in my class for 2 years. I design suitable materials to teach Chinese with different phonetic systems (PinYin for China and HongKong, and Mandarin Phonetic Symbols for Taiwan) as well as to interpret differences between simplified and traditional Chinese characters. My past positions were Chinese language-related, such as: reporter, translator and social science researcher. Students who I taught before regard me as a sincere, discreet teacher who helps learners to progress in short time.Business Chinese/ Tutorial Chinese teachingChinese (mother tongue), English (Fluent), French (basic), Danish (beginner)Word Office, SPSS statistic software, Basic Video and Audio editing, Blog [email protected], Tel: 25 81 65 18

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Fernando Carlos Cardeira da Silva (Male)Portugal CopenhagenAccounting course from Danish Institution (Regnskabs medarbejder at Niels Brock), previous frequency of Accounting and Management courses in Portugal. I have more than 5 years of experience in accountingJob as accounting assistant I can read and write Danish, English, Portuguese, Spanish and FrenchIT-experience: Microsoft Office (Excel, Word and Power point) and accounting software such as Navision [email protected] +45 50437588


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Miss Eleonora MessaliItaly Greater Copenhagen in the Environmental, Oil &Gas and Energy industry.MSc. and BSc. in Environmental and Land Planning Engineering from Politecnico di MilanoIn 2009-2010 Environmental consultant for a global company in Milan (remediation field). Main responsible of the HSE system management for a multinational Oil&Gas company. Experienced in the urban planning field. Research in the wind energy sector at University of New South Wales (Sydney) for 6 months in 2008-2009.Full time work as environmental /energy project engineer or consultant . Work in research.Italian (native speaker), English (fluent), French (fluent), German (advanced knowledge), Spanish (basic), Danish (currently learning)IT-experience: Windows MS Office (experienced), ESRI ArcGIS 9.2 (experienced) , Lyx (experienced), Matlab (good knowledge), C/C++ (student level), specific softwares developed for Environmental Engineering topics (Monte Carlo Ranking, Aquatox)Contact: [email protected], mobile: +45 50178670

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Laxmi ChawanIndia Sjælland, as an architect/ interior designer or as a logistic co-ordinator.Masters in Design Sciences and Sustainable Design, University of Sydney, Australia; Bachelors in Architecture, University of Mumbai, IndiaDesign development, Drafting, Working drawings, Planning and scheduling of projects, Report compilation, Invoicing and Administrative works.Part time /Fulltime work in Architecture/Construction /Interior Designing Firm or Supply chain management field. English,HindiAutoCAD 2009, Adobe In Design, Photoshop, Microsoft Office, Project management [email protected] Mobile : +4552532498


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Debjani Nandy BiswasIndia Would like to join in kindergarten, School teacher in English, official work in English.B.A., M.A in English literature and language (American, European and Indian).Temporary school teacher in Bongaon, India and involved in social work (handicapped society).A possibility in getting practical experiences in kindergarten or any international school, official work (administration) in English, voluntary work also. English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Bengali, little Danish (currently learning).Diploma in basic computer applications.E-mail: [email protected], Tel: +45 50219942.

the copenhagen post spouse employment page

why: The Copenhagen Post wishes to help spouses looking for jobs in Denmark. We have on our own initiative started a weekly spouse job page in The Copenhagen Post, with the aim to show that there are already within Denmark many highly educated international candidates looking for jobs.If you are a spouse to an international employee in Denmark looking for new career opportunities, you are welcome to send a profile to The Copenhagen Post at [email protected] and we will post your profile on the spouse job page when possible.

13ThE copEnhagEn poST janUary 14 - 20

3 february 2011wondercool Supplement

to advertiSe in the wondercool Supplement - contact the SaleS team today on: 3336 3300!

limitedSpaceSleft!

ad Space available from only 500 dkk!

liSt your event with uS today!

Copenhagen Cooking

frost festival

danish design Centre

Copenhagen fashion week

Copenhagen jazz week

in the summer, Copenhagen is always bustling with warmth and cultural things to do. winter however, is rather less warm. that is why five sucessful brands, along with a completely new rock festival, have come together to create wonderCool, a new Copen-hagen festival.

the five brands are Copenhagen jazz festival, the danish design Centre, Copenhagen fashion festival, Copenhagen Cooking and the new frost rock festival. the goals are clear - to bring more life and more tourists to the city during the winter months.

it is the first time that the five large events are being brought together for a joint festi-val, which is planned to be an annual event every winter to bring some of the summer’s warmth into february. all the participants are working at full speed to plan exciting events, so the number of events and their scope are growing daily. the festival has been arranged in collaboration with hØs, the city’s hotel organisation.

the Copenhagen post in conjunction with wonderCool will bring to our readers on the 3rd february everything you need to know about the wonderCool festival!

27 january 2011chinese supplement

to advertise in the chinese embassy supplement - contact the sales team today on: 3336 3300!

limitedspacesleft!

ad space available from only 500 dkk!

list your event with us today!

Spring Festival, widely known as Chinese New Year, falls on the first day of the first lunar month (usually in late January or early February) according to the Chinese lunar calendar. It is the most important traditional festival in China and is celebrated grandly and extensively across the country. In 2011, Chinese New Year takes place on 3rd February.

The Copenhagen Post in partnership with the Chinese Embassy will produce a supplement on 27th January, with the main theme focused on the Chinese Spring Festival and the New Year.

14 ThE copEnhagEn poST janUary 14 - 20LIfe sCIenCes

Lundbeck’s new alcoholism treatment shows promiseBy anca Enache

New drug will help heavy drinkers reduce the quantities they consume

DRuG-MAKinG giant lundbeck has recently completed successful trials on the beneficial

effects on nalmefene, which helps individuals reduce their alcohol consumption. The trials were focused on the hort-term efficacy and long-term safety of the drug. The studies reveal nalmefene as a legitimate po-tential treatment alternative for people needing to reduce their total alcohol consumption.

Conducted in Europe on about 1,300 patients with alco-hol addiction, the trial studies also had a psychosocial com-ponent in the form of a brief, standardised programme fo-cused on adherence and follow-up, without setting any absti-nence treatment goals.

nalmefene, an opioid recep-tor antagonist, builds on a novel principle of treating alcohol de-pendence. it acts by blocking a mechanism in the brain that can cause a continuing and un-controllable intake of alcohol. unlike existing therapies, the treatment with nalmefene is not aimed at keeping the patients from drinking. instead, the drug developed by lundbeck helps to control and to limit the intake of alcohol.

The reduction of alcohol consumption to less harmful levels is supported by specialists as a valuable treatment option to keep patients in treatment and to increase their willingness to initiate treatment. in addition, nalmefene is available as a tab-let to be taken only according to need, whereas existing phar-maceuticals must be taken con-tinuously over a longer period of time with the aim of maintain-ing abstinence. The most fre-quent side-effects of nalmefene included dizziness, insomnia and nausea.

“We are pleased that the data demonstrates that nalmefene is on track to become the first drug to make a difference for the many people in need of a reduction of their harmful al-cohol consumption,” said ex-ecutive vice president Anders Gersel Pedersen, head of drug development at lundbeck. “We will now finalise the last effi-cacy study in the programme to assess the full data package in order for us to prepare the regis-tration of nalmefene in Europe.”

The study of nalmefene also includes two short-term efficacy trials, which included six months of treatment, and one long-term safety and tolerability trial, ex-tended for a period of one year.

The company will report the results of the second efficacy tri-al in the second quarter of 2011.

it is estimated that 23 mil-lion Europeans – 5 percent of men and 1 percent of women - are dependent on alcohol. While alcohol is the third-leading cause of ill health after smoking and hypertension, and there are more risks associated with alco-hol than with elevated choles-terol levels and obesity, alcohol addiction remains a highly stig-matised, under-diagnosed and undertreated disease.

A hiSToRiCAl grant of 700 million kroner from the novo nordisk Foundation

to Denmark’s Technical univer-sity (DTu) is one of the recent steps taken by Denmark towards the goal of establishing a bio-based industry.

“if a small country like Denmark wants to ensure con-tinued growth and future jobs, it will be decisive to strengthen its best research environments,” said the chairman of the novo nordisk Foundation board, ulf J. Johansson.

Plastic bags, toys, hospital equipment, cancer medicine, fuel, food ingredients and other commodities - which today are largely produced from chemical compounds based on crude oil or extracted from plants - will be produced in the future using biotechnological processes.

in order to attain the goal of a bio-based industry, the re-search efforts will have to be in-tensive. With the grant from the novo nordisk Foundation, DTu will establish a research centre, ‘The novo nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability’, staffed by leading and interna-

tionally-renowned researchers.The centre’s focus will be

on elucidating how to use bacte-ria and fungi to produce a wide variety of chemical compounds. The centre will also create knowledge on how surplus bio-mass and other waste can be used effectively in production – thus reducing the world’s de-pendency on oil converting the oil-based industry into a bio-based industry.

Danish research efforts in science and technology are al-ready highly rated on an interna-tional scale, and biotechnologi-cal companies Carlsberg, Chr. hansen, Danisco, novozymes and novo nordisk – which are

700 million kroner bolsters country’s position in global race for developing a bio-based industry

DTU nets large grant from Novo

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Find more travel info at www.intl.m.dk let´s go

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TimetableThe Metro operates 24 hours a day, all week. Trains leave every 2-6 minutes during the day and every 8-20 minutes at night. AirportThe Metro runs to and from Copenhagen Airport. The trip from the city centre takes 14 minutes.

Tickets You can purchase tickets from the Metro ticket machines located in all Metro stations. Ticket price is dependent on the number of zones you will be travelling. City Pass – Unlimited travel throughout central Copenhagen for a 24- or 72-hour period.

Cash tickets – For travel within a specified number of zones. Valid for one or two hours.

10-clip card – Same as cash tickets, but with up to a 40% discount. Remember to stamp the card at the beginning of your journey.

each internationally dominant in their own field – are among DTu’s closest industrial re-search partners.

The centre has international satellites with focal points in technology platforms at Chalm-ers university of Technology in Gothenburg as well as the Royal institute of Technology in Stockholm. Furthermore, strong competencies in the faculty of life sciences at the university of Copenhagen are included.

The oECD estimates that biotechnology can help us to produce 80 percent of all phar-maceuticals and 35 percent of the total amount of chemical compounds. (ae)

B ioTEChnoloGy com-pany novozymes has joined forces with the

Danish oil industry’s biggest players, Maersk oil and Dong Energy, in an innovative project that will test the capacity of en-zymes to extract more oil from underground reserves.

oil reserves in the north Sea have become increasingly difficult to exploit.

With novozymes on board, the chances that the two oil gi-ants will manage to reduce the difficulties of oil extrac-tion from the north Sea are considerably heightened. The company’s previous knowledge and research and development among different enzyme prod-ucts could prove to be crucial for the project.

“it’s quite unique that we can launch a project in which three strong companies are working together,” Erling Sten-by, professor and director of the Center for Energy Resources at DTu, told Børsen newspaper.

The project will take place over the next four years. The total budget allocated for the endeav-our is 32.7 million kroner, of which 15 million kroner was pro-vided by the Danish national Ad-vanced Technology Foundation.

As part of the project, the expensive and environmentally-polluting chemical substances currently being used will be replaced with micro-organisms and enzymes for oil production. The three companies will also look for ways to prevent pipes used for pumping from freezing.

in mid-December, Dong drilling teams discovered oil in the westernmost part of the Danish north Sea in sandstone of the Paleocene age. The dis-covery was made at the Sara-1 exploration well and samples have been taken in order to establish whether the new oil resource can be exploited com-mercially. (ae)

Alliance aims to improve oil extraction

DTU will research how to produce items such as plastic toys using bio-technological processes, rather than chemical compounds

Factfile | nalmefene

Nalmefene is an opioid receptor antagonist. The compound acts by blocking a mechanism in the brain that can cause a continuing and uncontrolled intake of alcohol. This helps to control and reduce alcohol intake.

Lundbeck holds the global rights to the compound.

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DAniSh company Santaris Pharma has started 2011 with great gusto by ex-

tending its strategic alliance with Pfizer that focuses on the development of RnA-targeted medicines. The deal will bring in $14 million to Santaris Phar-ma and allow Pfizer to access its locked nucleic acid (lnA) drug platform to develop RnA-targeted drugs.

Furthermore, the Danish company is eligible to receive milestone payments of up to $600 million, as well as royal-ties on sales of products that may be developed for up to ten new RnA targets selected by Pfizer.

Santaris Pharma is a clin-ical-stage biopharmaceuti-

cal company focused on the research and development of mRnA and microRnA-targeted therapies. The company formed a partnership with Wyeth in January 2009 and Pfizer later acquired Wyeth.

The lnA drug platform is the only RnA technology with both mRnA and microRnA-targeted drugs in clinical trials, demonstrating the broad utility of the platform. The unique com-bination of small size and high affinity achievable with the lnA technology allows lnA-based drugs to potently and specifically inhibit RnA targets in different tissues without the need for com-plex delivery vehicles.

The combination of the

Santaris-developed drug discov-ery engine and the lnA plat-form will allow a rapid delivery of lnA-based drug candidates against mRnA and microRnA targets for a range of diseases that included metabolic disor-ders, infectious and inflamma-tory diseases, cancer, and rare genetic disorders.

Santaris Pharma has ex-clusive worldwide rights to all therapeutic uses of lnA and has strategic partnerships with Shire plc, Pfizer, GlaxoSmith-Kline, Enzon Pharmaceuticals, and others. The company was founded in 2003. it is head-quartered in Denmark and it has operations in the united States. (ae)

santaris Pharma hits the jackpot with Pfizer deal

15ThE copEnhagEn poST janUary 14 - 20 BusIness AnALysIs

Brewery progresses

hARBoES Bryggeri has pub-lished its performance report for the first six months of the financial year, showing a great improvement for the company’s bottom line. Revenues for the first half increased to 830.3 mil-lion kroner, from 796.6 million in the same period last year. The company’s net sales for its beverage business rose by 2.8 percent, while their net sales in the food business rose by 13 percent. The company’s operat-ing profits for the second half amounted to 60.3 million kro-ner, compared to 32.9 million in the same period last year.

facts and figures BRITISH CHAMBER OFCOMMERCE DENMARK

BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN DENMARK

See further details on www.bccd.dk or e-mail [email protected] Non-members are welcome to learn more about us!

• official media partner

Creating value through internal and external networks

Christopher Barrat is a leading international speaker and consultant, who has a lot of experience in the real world of business. Having been both a senior European sales manager and a director of purchasing he has a unique insight into ‘both sides of the table’. His style combines sharp insight, a wicked wit, and a great ability to engage with an audience. Christopher will both speak at and moderate this meeting on:

• Networking internally in a company – by office, nationally or globally • Actively networking with the external network of a company both by management and other staff (degree to which this is encouraged?) • Networks as a business model? • Growing a network of businesses in a local area • Use of social media networks – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter? – experiences, advantages/disadvantages • A little about personal skills development for networking

Time & Date: 16:30 - 19:30, 24 Jan 2011Location: Rambøll, Hannemanns Allé 53, 2300 København S (Ørestad)Sign up: www.bccd.dk / [email protected]

Content on this page translated from Danish by Anca Enache

TK on target

PRoPERTy developer TK De-velopment has announced third quarter profits of 10 million kroner, and the company will have to intensify its efforts if the management’s year-end expec-tations are to be met. Based on the market conditions for the re-maining period of the financial year 2010/11, and ongoing ne-gotiations to sell more finished projects listed for 2010/11, the management expects to main-tain its profit after tax in the area of 100 million kroner.

neighbouring countries, our competitiveness weakens at an alarming rate,” said Sandberg.

So far, the economy has fared surprisingly well, when you take into account the price handicap. Smidt suggests that the price and cost pressure have not yet led to serious problems with unemployment or the bal-ance of payments.

“So far, we’ve lived with the relatively high price levels. But you can ask whether this can continue. is there a limit to how high the price of Danish goods on the export markets can go?”

With some of the highest price increases in the EU, exporters are also feeling the effects of inflation

Inflation threatens sales at home and abroadBy Morten Sørensen

only modestly in 2007 com-pared with the rest of the Eu, despite its VAT rising to 19 per-cent from 16 percent that year.

According to the Competi-tion and Consumer Authority’s 2009 Competition Report, a lack of competition is most like-ly to blame for high prices.

Danish consumers pay sig-nificantly more for goods than Dutch, Germans or Finns. But companies, too, feel the impact when prices rise.

“if the tax and general price level here rise by just a single percentage point more than in

Prices in Denmark have for years been increasing more than in the rest of the Eu, and today are the high-

est consumer prices in Europe. however, this not only hurts our purse strings, noted the Danish Chamber of Commerce, point-ing to data from the Economic Councils’ Simulation Model. it costs the state billions in revenue and thousands of jobs in Danish companies on the export market.

“The high inflation rate erodes consumer purchasing power, and it isn’t looking good for corporate revenue in 2011. This year, households won’t come close to the gains in their disposable income as they did in 2010, when they had on av-erage about six percent more to spend or save,” said Danish Chamber of Commerce econo-mist, Bo Sandberg.

Furthermore, despite having lower growth than in Germany, Sweden and norway, Denmark’s inflation is significantly higher, added Sandberg. over the past five years, the price gap between Denmark and the rest of the Eu has been growing.

“This picture is consistent with the fact that Danish wages have generally risen at a higher rate, while productivity had

lower growth rates than in the rest of Europe. in recent years, the lax Danish fiscal policy has helped push wages and costs higher,” said John Smidt of the Economic Councils.

According to the latest Sta-tistics Denmark figures, infla-tion in november was running at 2.5 percent. Some 0.7 percent of that, a Danske Bank calcula-tion found, was due to increased taxes and fees. But seen over the longer term, higher taxes cannot account for the growing price gap with other countries. Ger-man prices, for example, rose

overvIew

Foreign analysts beat domestic investors

DAniSh investment bank Danske Bank Equities came out on top in predicting

movements on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange in 2010. But, in most cases, foreign analysts were far better at advising in-vestors than Danish banks, not least when it came to the most successful C20 stocks, shows an Økonomisk ugebrev survey.

in the case of novo nord-isk, which led the C20 with an 89 percent advance last year, the largest sellers were Danske Bank, nordea, SEB Enskilda, han-delsbanken, ABG, Jyske Bank and Sydbank. Their combined net sales totalled 7.6 billion kroner, at a sale price some 40 percent lower than the current 650 kro-ner per share. Roughly speaking, their clients missed out on an ex-tra three billion kroner in profits.

Carnegie was the only nor-dic finance house to benefit from novo’s surge, scoring the largest net purchase of the year, 4.7 bil-lion kroner. no Danish finance

houses were among the list of the largest net buyers.

Similarly, foreign financial companies were significantly better at predicting the strong performance of Coloplast shares, which rose 60 percent in 2010. The largest purchases in Colo-plast were made by eight foreign financial companies.

Bad calls were made at the opposite end as well. While for-eign investment banks were sell-ing off shares of insurance group Tryg, which fell some 25 percent, Danish ones were busy buying them up. The largest net buyers, nordea, Credit Suisse and SEB Enskilda, made net purchases of almost 750 million kroner. Cal-culated on an average decline of between 20 percent and 25 per-cent, the misjudgement cost over 150 million kroner.

off the C20 as well, foreign financial houses outperformed domestic ones. Royal unibrew, with a share price growth of 138 percent, was an opportunity grabbed first by Carnegie, fol-lowed by Morgan Stanley, Soci-ete Generale and Credit Suisse. Among the largest net sellers were Danske Bank and Sydbank.

content on this page provided by

Danish consumers pay significantly more for goods than their counterparts in other EU countries

Danish analysts misfiring in investment opportunities, and getting beaten to the punch by foreigners

Factfile | price gap

The price gap between Den-mark and the rest of the Eu has increased dramatically over the past five years. in 2005 the ‘household con-sumption price level’ in Den-mark was 29 percent above the level in 15 other ‘old’ Eu member states. in 2009, the price gap increased to 38 percent.

in november 2010, the Dan-ish inflation rate was 2.5 percent, while the Eu level was 2.3 percent and the Eu-rozone inflation rate was only 1.9 percent. Denmark’s main trading partners – Germany and Sweden – had an infla-tion in november of 1.6 and 1.7 percent respectively.Photo: Pamela Juhl

Danish price increases outpacing Europe Price levels for household consumer items. Index: EU15=100 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005Denmark 138 136 131 129 129Germany* 101 100 98 99 101Holland 104 100 98 100 101Finland 119 119 113 112 117Note: * VAT rose to 19 percent from 16 percent in 2007Source: Danmarks Statistik

Source: AU professionel, AktieUgebrevet

Stock Barometer

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Stock barometer: Composite measurement of four global indicators of the health of the stock markets, com-posed of: net purchase or sale of Danish shares by foreign professional investors; announced insider trading; the US Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD) indicator of changes in the strength, direction, momen-tum, and duration of a trend in a stock’s price; sector rotation; S&P 500 volatility index (VIX) measuring investor nervousness, also known as the fear index.

PosTsCrIPT

DenmArk ThrouGh The LookInG GLAss

GERMAn forces crossed the border into neutral Denmark on the morning of 9 April 1940, mean-

ing the previous year’s non-aggression pact had gone the way of so many others the nazi government made. in a remark-ably gentle invasion, troops crossed easily into southern Jutland. Shortly afterwards, un-armoured German ships boldly docked in Copenhagen and be-gan disembarking soldiers and equipment. The only resistance came in isolated pockets – skir-mishes in Jutland and outside the final bastion of Danish sov-ereignty, Amalienborg Palace which only succeeded in pro-longing Denmark’s official war with Germany to a grand total of two hours, at the cost of 16 soldiers killed in action.

As with holland, the fatal combination of flat geography and severely limited armed forces meant that resistance to the notoriously efficient Ger-man war machine was generally considered to be a pointless ex-ercise.

Although the government had in fact been forewarned by their intelligence of the impend-ing invasion, they either failed or decided not to act. Combined with effective leafleting propa-ganda that threatened an aerial bombardment of Copenhagen, the fate of Denmark was quick-ly sealed.

The amicable conclusion allied with the nazi’s reverence for Germanic Scandinavians meant that Denmark got off pretty lightly when the Ger-mans came to rolling out their imperial designs, claiming they would ‘respect Danish sover-eignty and territorial integrity,

nazi Germany to Danish navy: “you sank my battleship”By peter Sims

Patriotic disobediance by a Danish vice admiral rendered 70 percent of the Danish fleet unusable

as well as neutrality’. in practise this fine example of orwellian doublespeak meant that the Danish government was as free to govern itself only as far as it is possible for the client state of an imperialist superpower to be.

naturally the armed forces were largely demobilised; how-ever the navy’s ships were still staffed by Danish sailors and even performed minesweeping operations, while the army was allowed to maintain 2,200 men and 1,100 auxiliary troops until August 1943. in keeping with the friendly accord, the Germans largely stopped short of actually acquiring the Danish war mak-ing apparatus, such as it was, but still demanded 12 torpedo boats in February 1941, which the Danish government agreed to, although only six were eventu-ally delivered.

By August 1943, resistance to the Germans became so bla-tant that they were left with no option but to declare martial law and dissolve the puppet re-gime. The troubled relationship had been souring for some time, with the population becoming steadily less accepting of the Germans, who complained that they found the population to be cold and distant. Although the Danish government had tried to prevent violence and sabotage, by late 1942 Germany declared Denmark to be ‘enemy territory’ for the first time.

in late 1942 a diplomatic crisis arose between King Christian X – who had been left in place as head of state – and hitler himself. Following a long and flattering telegram congratulating the king on his birthday, hitler was infuriated to be snubbed by the curt reply: ‘Giving my best thanks. King Christian’. The response was a swift crackdown and the arrival of a new plenipotentiary (effec-tive leader): Dr. Werner Best.

Best allowed an election in March 1943 which, combined with a growing feeling of op-

timism that Germany would be defeated, led to widespread strikes and protests throughout the summer of 1943, culminat-ing a draconian ultimatum to the Danish government that sought to hammer the final few pieces of the totalitarian structure into place. Amongst other demands the Germans required the gov-ernment to ban public assem-blies and strikes and introduce a curfew and the death penalty for sabotage. The government refused, and martial law was de-clared on 29 August 1943.

Knowing that the navy would now be fair game to the Germans, and useful to their war effort, one man acted quick-ly and decisively this time. Vice Admiral Aage helgesen Vedel had resolved back in 1941 that

no more of his fleet would be allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy, and he secretly ordered the captains under his command to prepare scuttling charges. As the political stand-off intensified leading up to the deadline of the ultimatum, the charges were checked and the 2,000 men at the holmen naval facility put on alert against a po-tential German attack.

When Vedel told the de-fence minister, Søren Brorsen, of his plans, the latter disagreed and instead instructed the order to be issued that the navy would be handed over intact, causing a crisis of conscience for Vedel, who was caught between obey-ing orders and performing his patriotic duty. his solution was to broadcast Brorsen’s orders to

the respective captains with the added caveat: ‘in the circum-stances, the ships can be sunk’.

The anticipated German at-tack, ‘operation Safari’, came on the morning of 29 August, but the Danish sentry guarding the bridge to the holmen base conveniently lost the handle that lowered the bridge, delaying the 500 German soldiers long enough for 32 ships to be sunk where they lay. Four more ships reached the safety of neutral Sweden, while 14 were captured.

Skirmishes with the occupy-ing German forces here and in military installations across the country left 23 Danes dead, and the Germans were ultimately able to salvage and reuse 15 of the scuttled ships for residential and educational use. however,

none of the Danish submarines were used again.

in a speech to the sailors af-ter the actions, the head of the inshore fleet, Commander Paul ipsen, said: “The Danish navy has sunk with honour; long live the Danish navy.” Two hours later the commander of the Ger-man naval forces in Denmark, Admiral hans-heinrich Wurm-bach, paid his respect towards his captive Danish counterpart, Vice Admiral Vedel, with the words: “We’ve both done our duty.”

Vedel was briefly detained for his efforts, but afterwards became a member of the gov-ernment, while remaining in close contact with the resist-ance movement and helping to coordinate the illegal transfer of arms from Sweden.

Hitler’s own words were poorly translated into a broken mixture of Norwegian and Danish to warn against opposing the invasion

Two of the soliders pictured here on the morning of 9 April 1940 were among the 16 killed in the two-hour war with Germany

“The Danish Navy has sunk with honour; long live the Danish Navy”

the copenhagen post - jan 14-20

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