The Red Green Party has made it clear that if the government wants to reach a budget agreement with the left-wing party, it is going to have to issue a job or retraining guarantee for the 16,000 people expected to drop out of the unemployment benefit system next year.

Budget negotiations with the various parties begin on Tuesday.

“There will be no agreement with the Red Greens unless there is a job or retraining guarantee for everyone. And if that is not in place, their payments must be extended. That is a vital issue for us,” says Red Green Finance Spokesman Fank Aaen.

Asked if the requirement is a definitive one, Aaen is firm: “Yes. Unanticipated things can turn up in a negotiating phase, but we will not enter into an agreement unless this sort of solution is included,” he says.

Finance Minister Bjarne Corydon has declined to comment on the Red Green demands. Social Democratic Finance Spokesman John Dyrby Paulsen, however, says that a guarantee “is not on the drawing board”.

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