Danish conservative parties want to exclude Muslim countries in foreign labour rules
The proposal includes a reduction of the beløbsgrænse (pay limit), which is a key element in restricting labour immigration under current rules because it requires employers to pay a set salary to staff from non-EU countries for them to meet criteria for a work permit.
The parties – the Conservatives, Liberal Alliance, Liberals and Nye Borgerlige (New Right) – want to reduce the minimum salary requirement but will not extend the accommodation to nationals of Muslim countries in North Africa and the Middle East, broadcaster DR reports.
The latter of the four parties, Nye Borgerlige, which is the furthest to the right and known for its hostility towards Muslims, demanded the clause in return for supporting the proposal, according to DR.
While the proposal will be presented fully on Tuesday, Liberal Alliance leader Alex Vanopslagh revealed some key details of it in an interview with DR.
“Our proposal is a permanent scheme with a lower pay limit whereby you can come up here and work, but where it will apply to a slightly lower number of countries,” Vanopslagh said on DR’s radio programme Ring til Oppositionen.
The four parties behind the proposal want to reduce the pay limit to 360,000 kroner annually. In ongoing negotiations over the labour shortage, the government has suggested it should be 375,000 kroner. The current amount is 448,000 kroner.
The government has pushed for a temporary two-year reduction to the pay limit, while the conservative parties behind the counter-proposal want it to be permanent.
Where the government’s scheme would be extended to all countries, the counter offer excludes “Muslim countries in North Africa and the Middle East” according to Nye Borgerlige leader Pernille Vermund, who described the proposal in a Facebook post.
Speaking on DR radio, Vanopslagh confirmed first that the four parties had agreed to exclude certain countries from the proposal, and then that the exclusion applied to MENA countries.
“We propose (excluding) a number of countries where we in practice avoid some of the countries where there are generally many people over-represented in our domestic crime statistics,” Vanopslagh said.
The Liberal Alliance leader said that his party’s adoption of the policy was “primarily a result of us being four parties which had to agree. For some parties, it was important that not all countries in the world” were included, he said.
Countries encompassed by the scheme would also have to meet two other criteria – a certain level of in- and outgoing investments with Denmark, and no visa requirements in the Schengen zone for their nationals.
SOURCE: https://www.thelocal.dk/20220125/danish-conservative-parties-want-to-exclude-muslim-countries-in-foreign-labour-rules/