New Goals, Government Platform

Transcription

1 New Goals, Government Platform New Goals Denmark as a leading knowledge society Denmark as a leading entrepreneurial society World-class education Innovation of primary and lower secondary school Post-secondary education for everybody The most competitive society in the world A sound economy Tax freeze and lower taxation of earned income More people in work Better health care Better care for the elderly Better conditions for families with young children A good start for all children Common responsibility for the most vulnerable Firm and fair immigration policy to be continued better integration Consistent measures to combat crime More emphasis on law and order Nature rehabilitation and environmental improvement Farsighted consumer policy Arts and culture: creativity and quality Freedom of the media The national church of the future Good conditions for the business community The public sector for the future Better and safer transport International security and stability Denmark in a world of greater freedom and fairness Today s Unity of the Realm - in line with the times Contents New goals Denmark in the global economy We must prepare the Danish society, the individual Dane and the individual enterprise to become better at responding to the challenges posed by an increasingly open international economy. We do business with each other on an unprecedented scale, and we travel throughout the world to an increasing extent. This is quite simply a prerequisite for our prosperity. Without our large-scale foreign trade and many international investments, Denmark would be a small, poor country. Therefore, we must work for free trade and free access to investments across borders. The open international economy implies keener competition from countries that have lower production costs than we have in this country. Danish enterprises are moving production and jobs abroad. Experience shows, however, that in doing so they achieve

2 improved competitiveness, which generates new jobs in Denmark to replace those that are being lost. We cannot and we must not compete on wages. That is not the way forward. Instead, we must compete on knowledge, on new ideas, and on the ability to change and find new solutions to problems. We are good at that in Denmark. And we must become even better at it, in order to create good, well-paid jobs in Denmark, also in future, instead of the jobs that are lost to low-wage countries. We must improve individual Danes opportunity of developing their potential and taking initiatives within the framework of the community. We must give Danes greater freedom in order to achieve a more dynamic and creative society. This implies that we must all be prepared to adjust to the challenges of the future on an ongoing basis. For security in the future requires that we become better at generating new knowledge and new ideas. We must become better at translating the new ideas into production and jobs, better at providing all young people with education and training, and better at renewing our own education throughout our lives. Therefore, we must make Denmark a leading knowledge society in the world. And we must ensure that nobody is left behind in this process. We do not want to see a two-tier society with an elite in complete control and a residual group that is constantly at risk of falling victim to unemployment and social problems. It is a characteristic of a strong society with a strong competitive edge that it is cohesive and that there is not too great social and economic inequality. This is the huge challenge facing Danish society in the years ahead. The Government will, therefore, draw up an ambitious, holistic and multi-year strategy to make Denmark a leading growth, knowledge and entrepreneurial society. Until 2010, we shall allocate DKK 10 billion to strengthen education, research, innovation and entrepreneurship. The strategy includes four key points: Denmark as a leading knowledge society: Our goal is for public and private sector enterprises to jointly boost efforts in the area of research and development so that Denmark by 2010 reaches a figure exceeding three per cent of gross domestic product. Denmark as a leading entrepreneurial society: Our goal is for Denmark, by 2015, to be one of the societies in the world where most growth enterprises are launched. World-class education: Our goal is for pupils in primary and lower secondary school to be among the best in the world in reading, mathematics and science. We want all young people to complete post-secondary education, at least 85 per cent by 2010 and 95 per cent by 2015, and at least 45 percent to complete further education by 2010 and 50 per cent by 2015.

3 The most competitive society in the world: Our goal is for Denmark to be the world s most competitive society by Denmark is part of the EU. We must contribute to strengthening Europe in the competition with the USA and Asia and to making Europe the world s most competitive region. It is a comprehensive, national task to achieve these goals. For us to succeed, it is necessary that all parts of the Danish society support this project. The Government will, therefore, involve representatives of broad segments of society in this work. The Government will appoint a Globalisation Council with broad representation from relevant sectors of society. The Council will advise the Government with respect to strategy and contribute to its implementation. The Prime Minister will chair the Council, and the Minister for Economic and Business Affairs will act as deputy chairman. A modern and efficient public sector An up-to-date and effective public sector is a significant contribution to improving the general competitiveness of society. The Government will, therefore, carry forward activities to innovate and further develop the public sector. In June 2004, the Government concluded an agreement with the Danish People s Party on a local-government reform which will lead to a more streamlined public sector with better service for citizens and better value for money. The localgovernment reform is the largest reform of the public sector for many years. The reform will come into force on 1 January In continuation of the local-government reform, the Government will submit proposals for a reform of the present division into deaneries. Similarly, against the background of the work carried out by the parliamentary working party on the division into constituencies, proposals will be submitted for a reform of the constituencies. The Government will present proposals for a reform of the Danish police, including a reform of the geographical structure of the police. Large-scale and strong police districts are a prerequisite for an effective and up-to-date police force with the necessary capacity and specialisation. Fewer units will, at the same time, mean less administration, so that more police may be transferred from administrative tasks to actual police work, including a more visible presence in local areas. Furthermore, the Government will submit proposals for a reform of the judicial districts, including a reform of the geographical structure, in order to ensure swifter and better service to citizens. Cases brought before a court of law must be dealt with in a flexible and efficient manner and at a high professional level for the benefit of the citizen s legal rights. Both the police reform and the judicial reform shall give consideration to equitable regional development in Denmark. The reform proposals will be presented in the

4 autumn of 2005, and the reforms are to take effect at the same time as the localgovernment reform on 1 January Future welfare By the end of 2005, the Welfare Commission will present specific proposals for reforms to boost employment and for reforms of the welfare system with a view to ensuring a socially balanced and targeted effort to help the groups that are most in need of assistance. The Government is prepared to take the necessary decisions to secure scope for and financing of future welfare. Provided the Government finds it necessary to implement major reforms against the background of the Commission s work, the Government will invite all the parties of the Folketing (Danish Parliament) to enter into discussions about these issues. In order to sustain the long-term perspective of the economic policy, the Government will present a new multi-year economic plan for Denmark in the spring of The plan will be drawn up in the light of analyses carried out by the Welfare Commission. The plan will, as a minimum, cover the years until 2015 and will hold clear targets for continued rise in employment, reduction of public debt and gradual cuts in taxation. The Government wishes to see a flexible and inclusive society that matches presentday working life and present-day life style. The rate of economic activity and the employment rate are high in Denmark compared with other countries. It is necessary in order to generate the production and the values that are to finance the welfare benefits. However, many people experience everyday life as hectic and stressful. There is, in particular, a very strong time pressure on families with young children. The stresses and strains of everyday life may be a contributory cause of a number of life-style diseases. Therefore, the Government will set up a broadly composed commission to analyse the demands that modern working life and modern life style make to a more flexible society in future, including a more flexible labour market and more flexible public and private service. The commission will finalise its work by the end of A new and active Danish European policy With the enlargement of the EU by ten new countries, we now have a new and united EU. The EU is the framework for future cooperation in Europe. A democratic community of European states and peoples has replaced the divided Europe of the Cold War. A democratic, cooperating, and strong EU serves Denmark s interests. The enlarged EU must be open, effective and decisive. It is a precondition for us to fully utilise the advantages provided by the EU. It must at the same time be possible for people to understand the EU. Therefore, it is necessary and right to introduce a new constitutional Treaty, which will bring together and modernise the foundation of the enlarged EU The Danish people will have the opportunity to decide on the new EU Treaty by referendum. On the basis of the broad political agreement on Denmark in the enlarged EU, the Government will work actively for a Danish yes to the Treaty. The

5 Government will ensure that there will be sufficient time for discussion of the Treaty prior to the referendum. As in earlier referenda on the EU, sufficient funds will be earmarked for information and debate. In accordance with general practice, there will be a fair distribution of funds. The Government will discuss the framework for the referendum with the parties of the Folketing. The Treaty is a fine basis for Denmark s active and equal participation in European cooperation. The Government wishes to pursue an active Danish European policy with Denmark contributing to setting the agenda for the development of the new Europe: We will continue our effort for transparency, subsidiarity and democracy in the EU. We will support a partnership for growth and employment with three main targets: 1) Europe is to be a more attractive place for investment and work. 2) Research and innovation are to be the dynamo for growth of the future. 3) Our policy is to provide the best conditions for enterprises to establish more and better jobs. The Government places particular importance on boosting research, development and education that, among other things, stimulate products and production in areas such as renewable energy, cleaner technologies and other environmental technology. We must use the EU to promote economic and socially sustainable development. We must use the EU to secure the framework for the European welfare states. Through this framework, the EU is to reinforce our prospects of maintaining the Danish welfare model. The design and structure of the welfare state will remain a national task. We must use the EU to foster environmentally sustainable development through targeted efforts to raise the standards of protection in current and new Member States and to improve the environmental quality on an ongoing basis. We must, at the same time, make an effort to promote the use of renewable energy in the EU. We shall also work for a high level of food safety and animal welfare. We will seek to ensure that the EU assumes greater global responsibility. We want multi-pronged action where we shall use the EU in initiatives for peace, disarmament and stability, in the effort to strengthen democracy, human rights and the international legal order, in the prevention of and fight against terrorism, in the efforts to foster development and combat distress and poverty in the world as well as in the international environmental and climate policy. The EU must also strengthen the civilian crisis management capability. We must support the wishes of the EU s neighbouring countries for closer cooperation through a coherent and balanced neighbourhood policy with increased focus on Russia and the new neighbours to the East: Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. The neighbourhood policy is to contribute to fostering the reform process in these countries and thus pave the way for modernisation and gradual economic integration with the Single Market in the EU. In Denmark, we must also further develop our own policy vis-à-vis the neighbouring countries of the EU. Especially after the dramatic presidential elections in Ukraine where the people succeeded in obtaining a fair and

6 democratic election, we must upgrade Danish involvement in this important European country. We wish to see the EU play a greater role in the effort to solve refugee problems and in the fight against illegal immigration and cross-border crime. The referendum on the new Treaty will not affect the Danish opt-outs, which will be carried on in the Treaty. At the same time, the possibility opens for Denmark, after a referendum, to participate in the cooperation on Justice and Home Affairs on a caseby-case basis. The Government is of the opinion that the old opt-outs of 1993 have become obsolete. Therefore, it is the Government s wish that the population should have the opportunity to decide on the opt-outs when the time is ripe. International security and stability The world is growing increasingly closer these years. The number of threats to Danish society and Danish citizens throughout the world has not decreased, and they have not become easier to combat. The Government will strengthen the effort for global security and stability. Denmark s security will also in future be based on the fundamental common values and interests shared by Europe and America. The Government, therefore, places altogether crucial emphasis on the transatlantic cooperation and will aim at developing the relationship between the EU and the USA, among other things through the establishment of a transatlantic free trade area. We will, at the same time, strengthen the spirit of solidarity in NATO. The Government will, therefore, strive to make the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy stronger and more effective on the basis of the new Treaty. We need a more coherent EU policy vis-à-vis the rest of the world. The EU must improve its ability with respect to crisis management, both civilian and military crisis management. It must be undertaken in cooperation with NATO and without any build-up of competing structures. Denmark s capability of contributing effective and well-equipped forces to international operations will be doubled with the new defence agreement. State-ofthe-art equipment will be procured to meet the needs of soldiers at remote destinations under difficult security and climate conditions. Military efforts in crisis-ridden areas must not stand alone, but are to be combined with humanitarian assistance and reconstruction action. In situations that make civilian organisations efforts difficult, the Government is prepared to let military forces contribute to the performance of these tasks. Against the background of the successful Iraqi elections, there is reason to consider whether to change the focus of the international action in Iraq and place greater emphasis on the training of Iraqi forces and the reconstruction of civil society. In the course of spring, the Government will present an overall analysis of how Denmark can best continue making contributions to fostering freedom, peace and progress in Iraq. The Government will let Danish forces contribute to stabilisation and reconstruction in Iraq, in the Balkans and in Afghanistan as long as the UN

7 and the governments concerned ask for it, and as long as the Danish contribution serves a purpose. In the Middle East, there is at long last reason for optimism. On the basis of the Road Map for peace and the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Government will make an active effort for the EU, the USA, Russia and the UN to jointly seize the new opportunities of finding a just and lasting negotiated solution to this conflict, which lies at the root of so many problems in the region. With the Arab Initiative, the Government wishes to take forward its long-term strategy against the threat from radical Islamists. The key to the problem is modernisation and reform of the Arab countries which we will support through a targeted partnership programme. The Government will continue the efforts to involve the EU and NATO more deeply in the region and will intensify the action to expedite the proposal for regional security cooperation inspired by the OSCE. The Government will strengthen the domestic resource base in order to stimulate our ability to contribute actively to reform and cooperation in the Middle East. As a member of the UN Security Council, Denmark will participate actively in the efforts to enhance the efficiency of the UN action against terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In the EU and in cooperation with the USA, the Government will aim at close coordination and cooperation between police and intelligence services in order to cut the roots of terrorism as well as the money flows that fuel terrorism. The Government will continue to take part in the considerations regarding the establishment of an effective missile defence system in cooperation with the USA and other NATO partners. Since the terrorist attack on 11 December 2001, we have strengthened the Danish emergency preparedness in this country. Fresh resources have been allocated to the intelligence services, and the rescue preparedness and the military preparedness have been brought together under the Ministry of Defence. The decentralised structure of the emergency preparedness, which ensures swift and effective action, is to be maintained. However, the Government will set up a national operational staff to strengthen the coordination between the defence, the police and other civil authorities in connection with major crises. In order to secure effective radio communication in connection with extraordinary efforts as a result of terrorism, catastrophes or disasters, the Government will, within the framework of the defence agreement, ensure the establishment of an effective radio communications network and the procurement of radio equipment. The Government will, at the same time, ensure the procurement of similar radio equipment for the police within the framework of the forthcoming multi-year agreement for the police.

8 The terrorist attack on Bali and the tsunami disaster in Asia have underlined that all of sudden a need may arise for assisting a large number of Danes in distant parts of the world. Against the background of the evaluation of the efforts made during the tsunami disaster, the Government will take steps to strengthen crisis management in Denmark and the EU. The Government will establish an international operational staff comprising all Danish authorities affected in order to provide speedy and effective help in these situations. Denmark in a world of greater freedom and fairness With a new overall initiative, the Government will intensify Denmark s international action to foster freedom, democracy and human rights. As part of this initiative we shall reinforce our effort in the UN with a strengthened human rights unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, allocate more funds for this priority area in the development assistance, allocate fresh funds for the action in Ukraine, the Caucasus and Russia within the framework of an enhanced neighbourhood programme. Free cross-border trade on equal terms is the best help we can give the poorest developing countries. In the WTO, the Government will make an effort for the liberalisation of world trade, including trade in agricultural produce, for the benefit of the least developed countries, concurrently with the new growth economies assuming their responsibilities and taking on their natural commitments. Denmark is to remain among the most generous donors providing the best development assistance. The Government will, therefore, keep up the present real allocation level for development assistance through annual price and pay adjustment. The Government will, at the same time, ensure that Denmark will not go below the 0.8 per cent of GNP in development assistance in the years ahead. Our contributions to multilateral development organisations should proportionately be brought in line with those of similarly disposed countries. The Government will, therefore, subject Denmark s contributions to multilateral development organisations to critical review in order to assess where we can get more development value for money. In order to strengthen the insight and influence of the population and the Folketing with respect to the distribution of the development assistance, the Government will introduce a new and more transparent financial management system with the 2006 Budget (commitment budgeting). The development assistance is to be distributed on the basis of our fundamental values and closely linked to the general foreign and security policy. In the years ahead, the Government will upgrade four main action areas: The regions-of-origin policy, which aims at improving the living conditions of both displaced and local populations, is to be developed. The Government will reinforce the work in the refugees native countries so that refugees and internally displaced people as soon as possible are given the opportunity to return and settle in their place of origin or close to their native country.

9 Assistance to combat global environmental and poverty problems must be increased. A comprehensive and effective environmental effort in the developing countries is a key element of the Government s general climate policy, which does not rest on a narrow national perspective, but takes its point of departure in the belief that global climate problems require global solutions. It is not just a matter of limiting pollution through well-known techniques. But also a question of developing the technologies of the future. Our support to Africa must be developed within the framework of the new general Africa policy. Denmark must be prepared to contribute both military forces and funds to the UN peacekeeping operations in Sudan and other places in Africa. The Government will aim at placing focus on Africa at the forthcoming UN summit on the Millennium Development Goals regarding the eradication of global poverty. The tsunami tragedy in Asia at the end of 2004 was a natural disaster of altogether extraordinary dimensions. The Government will carry forward the action to assist the most severely affected areas, especially Indonesia and Sri Lanka, by means of humanitarian assistance and reconstruction. If, in the course of this year, a need arises for further action exceeding the funds of the appropriation for disasters, the Government is prepared to channel fresh funds to the development budget. Today s Unity of the Realm in line with the times A modern Unity of the Realm is based on close and constructive cooperation, characterised by mutual respect and with a shared focus on achieving results. The Government will further develop the good relations that have been established with Greenland and with the Faroe Islands in recent years. The Government s position is to contribute constructively to replacing the existing home rule arrangements by enlarged self-government in Greenland and in the Faroe Islands within the framework of the Danish Constitution and the Unity of the Realm. This entails also that the assumption of new areas of responsibility is accompanied by economic commitments. The Greenland-Danish cooperation on a future self-government arrangement for Greenland has been initiated with the establishment of a joint parliamentary commission. On the basis of Greenland s present constitutional position, the Commission on Self-Governance is to present proposals for ways in which the Greenland authorities may assume further powers where this is possible under the Constitution. The Commission is expected to conclude its work in the year The Danish Government and the Greenland Home Rule Government will, subsequently, discuss the result of the Commission s work with a view to submitting a Bill to the Folketing. The Government sees the 2004 report of the Commission on Greenland s Judicial System as an important element in the forthcoming discussions between the Danish Government and the Greenland Home Rule Government with a view to modernising the Greenland judicial system and to achieving a more self-governing Greenland. After consultation with the Home Rule Government of the Faroe Islands, the Government takes a positive view of introducing a Bill on a new arrangement that

10 will enable the Faroese authorities to assume responsibility for all fields within the framework of the Constitution and the Unity of the Realm. The approach of the Government is that strengthened cooperation within the Unity of the Realm also comprises the foreign policy area. The Government s wish is, therefore, for Greenland and the Faroe Islands to gain contributory influence by being involved in foreign and security policy subjects of special interest to the two parts of the Realm. With respect to Greenland, the framework for this has been established with the joint declaration of principle on Greenland s involvement in the foreign and security policy. The Government expects to conclude a similar declaration on future cooperation with the Home Rule Government of the Faroe Islands. With the passing of the Bill on the Greenland Home Rule Government concluding international law agreements, which the Government has submitted to the Folketing, a framework will be established for more independent safeguarding of Greenland interests in the foreign policy area. The Government is prepared to introduce a similar Bill for the Faroe Islands, if the Home Rule Government of the Faroe Islands so wishes.