Coalition Agreement 2014 – 2018
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Coalition Agreement 2014 – 2018 FELLOWSHIP SECURITY DEVELOPMENT This is a translation - Coalition Agreement - Election Term 2014 – 2018 – THE GREENLANDIC VERSION APPLIES (Non-official translation) Fellowship - Security – Development Siumut, Demokraatit and Atassut hereby enter into the following Coalition Agreement for the 2014-2018 election term. The central aspect of the Coalition Agreement is that working for Greenland and the people of Greenland through Inatsisartut (the Greenland Parliament) and Naalakkersuisut (the Gov- ernment of Greenland) must be based on credibility, mutual respect, and putting citizens first. The Coalition Parties have entered into an agreement that the work to promote the develop- ment of Greenland's society and to promote a strong and sound platform in the international community must be based on shared objectives, and not only through Inatsisartut and Naalakkersuisut, as the parties have agreed to work to promote fellowship and cooperation throughout Greenland's society. The Coalition Parties have agreed to introduce reforms to ensure better living conditions and, in particular, to initiate a dynamic development of the economy, to ensure that new jobs are created, thereby developing more workplaces for the population of working age. Work must take place to initiate dynamic development within fisheries, tourism, land-based activities and the trades and industry. Work must also take place to augment cash flows and ensure a sound economy in every area of business and industry. It is within fisheries and the fisheries industry, mineral resources, tourism and other land- based activities, as well as building and construction, that new income opportunities and workplaces must be created. In addition, we must also work to ensure that money circulation within existing industries is strengthened and improved. The Coalition Parties have agreed that good framework conditions must be created to ensure that everyone of working age can and will be self-supporting and self-sustaining in every re- spect. This must be achieved, among other things, by launching building and construction pro- jects and by ensuring that more young people are in training and education, or achieve em- ployment. The Coalition Parties have agreed that stable conditions in society must be created by imple- menting the necessary reforms. Our society faces major problems, which requires us to cooperate to ensure and introduce re- forms to create better conditions within social welfare, pensions, early retirement benefits, taxation, housing and, not least, in the area of business and industry. The reorganisation of local government must be re-assessed, with consideration of the size of the municipalities. In this work, citizens' service, co-determination and citizen involvement must carry special weight. Work must take place to ensure higher returns to society from fisheries, mineral resources ac- tivities, tourism and construction. To be able to achieve this, investments and good frame- work conditions for business and industry are needed, so as to create better conditions for so- 2 This is a translation - Coalition Agreement - Election Term 2014 – 2018 – THE GREENLANDIC VERSION APPLIES ciety in general, which in the final analysis will give individual citizens greater opportunities for self-sufficiency. The Coalition Parties will work to ensure economic self-sustainability for Greenland. The Coalition will therefore focus especially on the following areas: A credible Coalition The Coalition has agreed that the work is to be based on honesty, credibility and openness. It has been agreed that the country is to be governed with openness, and the Coalition will in- troduce new guidelines for more open employment procedures for the highest positions in the country's administration. The country must be governed with respect for the people's co-determination, also in a global perspective, and co-participation must be ensured, in order to achieve more equitable interac- tion in society. To this end, the Coalition has agreed to establish a joint coordinating unit to ensure that the Coalition's political objectives can be achieved. The Coalition Parties have agreed that in addition to the customary requirements to ensure el- igibility for election, and the related prescribed guidelines, requirements will be introduced for documentation that the persons who hold positions in Inatsisartut or Naalakkersuisut do not use illegal euphorising substances. The Coalition Parties have agreed to re-assess the procedure for elections to Inatsisartut with respect for democracy, thereby working to ensure more equitable parliamentary representa- tion. The Coalition Parties' most important pledge to each other, and for society, is to work whole- heartedly for the People of Greenland. Finances and taxation The Coalition Parties have agreed that all work must focus on ensuring Greenland's economic self-sufficiency, and this work must be coordinated to ensure the best possible result. Public construction tasks must be distributed on the regions so as to meet the requirements, and moreover evaluations and assessments must be launched together with the municipali- ties, so that in future the tasks can be assigned to the municipalities. To create more equitable fiscal equalisation in society, it is necessary to ensure the more equi- table development of the country. The Coalition Parties have agreed that at the session to convene Inatsisartut before 2015, a temporary transition arrangement will be agreed on. The Coalition Parties have agreed that during the election period it will be sought to ensure Finance Acts that balance as far as possible. 3 This is a translation - Coalition Agreement - Election Term 2014 – 2018 – THE GREENLANDIC VERSION APPLIES The Coalition Parties consider it important to work to strengthen purchasing power and to keep inflation as low as possible. The taxation rate must remain the same throughout the election term. A labour market deduction must be introduced. To ensure better conditions for people with the lowest incomes, it must be assessed whether the personal tax deduction threshold should be raised in conjunction with the tax reform. To a greater extent, company tax must match and be competitive with Nordic conditions, thereby making Greenland an attractive country to invest in from abroad. Efforts must also be made to strengthen Greenland's competitiveness in relation to depreciation rules. An analysis must be launched to consider cash flows between Greenland and Denmark. A pos- sible future own bank for Greenland must also be evaluated. The Coalition Parties will approach Denmark for the purpose of establishing a joint develop- ment fund. It is important to ensure investments for the many profitable construction and in- frastructure projects that are needed in Greenland. Business and industry The Coalition will focus especially on promoting business and industry, to ensure that the country becomes more economically self-supporting. The business and industry area consists of the four cornerstones on which the country is founded. Fisheries and industry – Mineral re- sources sector – Tourism – Land-based industry and education are the four cornerstones. To promote investment, it is important that company taxation is low. To promote Greenland's foreign trade in ice, water, fish and mineral resources, it is important that guarantees, loans and capital can be provided in order to ensure this development. A plan for business and industry based on a sound foundation with good framework condi- tions for the companies in the country is important, yet it is also vital that the country's spe- cial focus on education and sound public governance, supporting the wish for self-reliance, can attract investors. The Government-owned companies must be encouraged to have their head offices in Green- land. The requirement will also be made that all directors of the companies are resident in Greenland and pay tax to Greenland's society. The majority of the members of the boards of directors of the Government-owned companies must be from Greenland. Earnings from fisheries must be increased, ensuring that fish processing uses all of the raw material. It must be sought to introduce taxes on unprocessed fish that is exported. 4 This is a translation - Coalition Agreement - Election Term 2014 – 2018 – THE GREENLANDIC VERSION APPLIES It must be ensured that Greenland's production industry has the same prices for electricity and water. The public sector's involvement in business and industry must be minimised by introducing a privatisation process, for which an action plan must be ensured to promote requirements, conditions and a time schedule for implementation. It must be ensured that the level of ser- vice to the population is not diminished. On completion of the action plan, it will be presented to Inatsisartut for consideration. Companies must show greater social responsibility and work to promote this good initiative, making sound cooperation imperative. Better opportunities to support new entrepreneurial projects must be created, and the Coali- tion will work to eliminate the many impediments to this. Sound framework conditions must be created for a tax-free scheme for all new companies during the first year. When new industries are established in Greenland, the public sector's responsibility concern- ing electricity and water supplies must be defined. The Coalition has set the objective of achieving food competence. Training and education The Coalition