Lucie Rychla
October 4th, 2016

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Parliament reopened today, sending the media into overdrive as the prime minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, delivered his opening address, mainly revisiting the points of the 2017-25 strategy his government announced on August 30.

Many had been predicting a tough Tuesday for the PM and his party Venstre, but the general consensus following his speech is that one of the ‘warring parties’ in his blue bloc, Liberal Alliance (LA), will re-enter the budget negotiations with renewed optimism.

While the other, Dansk Folkeparti, which strongly opposes LA’s desire for tax cuts for the rich, noted it was extremely satisfied with the PM’s plans for a new property tax that will benefit and protect Danish homeowners.

READ MORE: Danish PM must overcome blue bloc deadlock to proceed with budget plans

PM urged to cut taxes
However, DF might have a fight on its hands if it wants to stop the government introducing tax cuts. Earlier today, Dansk Erhverv (the Danish Chamber of Commerce) called on the Danish government to implement the measure among new initiatives that would boost economic growth in the country.

According to Jens Klarskov, the CEO of Dansk Erhverv, the Danish economy has been stagnating for the past five years and the government needs to motivate more people to seek jobs by reducing income tax.

READ MORE: Danes scrambling to set up companies

Klarskov contends the slow economic growth is largely down to low investments in business and proposes a reduction in taxes to make Denmark more attractive for international investors as well as continued investment in education and technology.

“We must invest in the future through targeted education, continuous digitalisation and industry-relevant research,” Klarskov stated.

Dansk Erhverv argues that the public sector should become more efficient and that politicians should challenge existing systems with new initiatives in relation to citizens’ freedom of choice, competition exposure and public-private partnerships.