The Copenhagen Post Feb24-Mar 1

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Smokers under siege: New efforts to butt out habit

Søvndal pledges Danish support for Syrians

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educ ation

Special education guide 2012 section INSIDE

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24 February - 1 March 2012 | Vol 15 Issue 08

ement

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper | cphpost.dk OBAMA: SCANPIX/SAUL LOEB; HTS: SCANPIX/KELD NAVNTOFT

NEWS

Should academics work at Netto? Minister’s suggestion that they need to be realistic sets off debate

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NEWS

Vigilantes or heroes? Hackers publicly expose suspected paedophiles, but police and ethicist question their methods

6 BUSINESS

The EU and the US make trade agreement on organics – what will it mean for Danish farmers?

15 CULTURE

Hamlet with a twist

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Price: 25 DKK

Helle Thorning-Schmidt’s first trip to Washington as PM will reinforce ties between Denmark and the US

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Government chokes on congestion charge JENNIFER BULEY

Ahead of the worldwide premiere of ‘The Tiger Lillies Perform Hamlet’, we spoke to the stars of the show

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First meeting among old friends

Solution to city’s traffic and air-pollution problems pushed off until next year

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ENSE, eleventh-hour meetings between top ministers from the Socialistisk Folkeparti (SF) and Socialdemokraterne (S) on Tuesday resulted in the plug being pulled on the Copenhagen congestion charge (betalingsring) – a proposal that aimed to diminish traffic jams and airpollution, while financing lower public transport fares through tolls on cars that come and go from the city. Instead, the government is now promising to spend a billion kroner to

cut ticket prices and raise public transAs part of its new plan, the governportation standards nationwide – but, ment is also creating a special commission crucially, without any penalty on those to study Copenhagen’s traffic and airwho drive cars into the city. The financ- pollution problems and offer a solution. ing will now come from higher taxes on Their commission’s findings, due leased vehicles. out on 1 January 2013, will supplement Addressing the backtrack, PM Helle several earlier traffic and air-pollution Thorning-Schmidt wrote on her Face- studies that went into the congestion book page on Wednesday: “The govern- charge proposal. ment has listened to the many objections Berlingske newspaper reported that against the congestion charge, even here transport experts were quick to note that on this page. It’s made an impact. We half a billion kroner would not go very have therefore decided to seek another far towards reducing fares at the national solution to the traffic problems in the level, as promised. capital. We will improve public transThe experts also noted that the lowport throughout Denmark with a billion er fares would not change the habits of extra kroner: 500 million for cheaper drivers – only higher prices on driving tickets, and 500 million forOrganise investment awould do that,meeting they argued – suggesting personal in new buses, trains and equipment.” thatathe compromise was more of a poand sit in on class.

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litical solution for SF and S, than a real traffic solution for Copenhagen. The congestion charge, in conjunction with reduced fares, was a key political promise by SF – and particularly its leader Villy Søvndal, who appeared in ads before the election promising 40 percent cheaper bus and train fares if voters backed SF and S. Voters did, but when a closer look at the numbers revealed that the congestion charge would bring in less than half the original estimate of 2 billion kroner in revenue – and when local, left-of-centre politicians, business leaders and the opposition, all banded together to block it – S began looking for a way out.

Congestion continues on page 10

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