Denmark sets age limit for men in fertility treatments, tractor protest expected to cause disruption on the roads and more news from Denmark on Tuesday.
Danish regions set 55-year age limit for men in fertility treatments
Denmark’s healthcare regions are set to introduce an age limit for men accessing fertility treatments from January 1st next year. This will mean that men must be referred to fertility treatments before the age of 55, with treatment complete before they turn 56.
It will still be possible for men above this age to receive treatment privately.
The reason behind the decision, according to the regions, is that there is a higher risk of the child experiencing health issues as the parents get older.
The regions also argue that losing a parent before reaching adulthood, which becomes more likely the older a parent is when they have a child, can affect a child’s risk of developing mental health issues.
Finally, rising age also means a decline in sperm quality, which can lower the chances of fertility treatment being successful.
The age limit for women is already set at 40.
Danish vocabulary: fertilitetsbehandling – fertility treatment
Tractor protest could cause delays on the roads
Tractors are set to protest the proposal of a new law on fertilisers today in Aarhus and Copenhagen, which could cause issues on the road in multiple parts of central and western Zealand, according to police.
Tractors are set to drive from Roskilde and Tureby towards Copenhagen between 7am and 10am, with police urging drivers to find alternate routes or leave extra time for journeys.
There are also a number of tractors set to drive from Jutland to Copenhagen throughout the day. These include tractors driving from Tørring in southeastern Jutland and from Holstebro in central Jutland.
They are expected to join a demonstration outside the Danish parliament at 10am on Tuesday.
A number of tractors are also expected to protest in Aarhus on Tuesday.
The protest is due to a new law, which is set to be discussed for the second time in parliament today. The law is part of the so-called grønne trepart agreement negotiated by the former government. This agreement was designed to reshape the country’s agricultural land use, reduce carbon emissions and restore aquatic environments.
The specific law being discussed today aims to set new limits on the amount of nitrogen farmers can discharge from their fields into oceans and other waterways.
Danish vocabulary: kvælstof – nitrogen
Almost nine out of ten new cars are electric
In August, 16,165 new electric cars were registered in Denmark, which is around 24 percent more than in the same month last year, according to new figures from industry organisation Mobility Denmark.
Electric cars made up a record-breaking 85.9 percent of all new cars, which is the highest number of newly-registered electric cars recorded in a single month.
“Danes have voted with their feet. They want electric cars,” Mads Rørvig, CEO of Mobility Denmark, said in a press statement.
The organisation is now calling on the government to take action before plans to raise the registration fee on electric cars come into force next year. This would make it more expensive for people to buy electric cars.
“It would be completely backwards if politicians respond to this success by making electric cars more expensive,” Rørvig said.
According to the organisation, the makeup of the current centre-left government, with the support of the left wing, means that the registration fee on electric cars could be permanently removed.
“The government has opened the door to removing the registration fee on electric cars. Now it just needs to walk through it,” Rørvig said.
“It would be hard to explain to Danes why a government which wants to be the greenest ever is choosing to put higher fees on the type of car pushing the green transition,” he added.
Danish vocabulary: elbiler – electric cars
Culture minister open to reforming ‘culture pass’ to attract more young people
Did you know that Denmark offers a free, ‘culture pass’ to young people aged between 15 and 24, with a value of 1,000 kroner to be used on cultural activities?
If you didn’t, you’re not the only one. According to Culture Minister Zenia Stampe, not enough young people have claimed their cards, which among other things means that there are millions of kroner in unclaimed funds left in the culture pass budget.
She is now calling for the parties behind the culture pass agreement to move 20 million kroner of unused funds from the digital culture pass over to a more long-term culture pass programme, which would allow children and young people to take part in a culture or sports course.
“What we have discovered is that it’s hard for this very vulnerable group to use these payment cards,” she said, referring to the fact that the initiative is aimed at young people who are not studying or working.
“We’ve had a much better experience with making tailor-made courses where we take them by the hand and lead them into cultural life together with other young people.”
So far, only 8,138 culture passes have been activated, with 67.5 percent of them used on cinema tickets.
Stampe also added that she is open to expanding the range of the passes so that they can be used by more people.
Danish vocabulary: børn og unge – children and young people