Wednesday

27th Sep 2023

New Danish government rolls back border controls

  • "The plans from May 2011 to build new control facilities at the Danish borders will not be carried out" (Photo: Waldemar Vollmer)

On its first day at work, the new centre-left Danish government agreed to roll back a controversial enhanced border checks policy introduced by the previous executive.

“The government will work to effectively combat cross-border crime within the Schengen co-operation ... The plans from May 2011 to build new control facilities at the Danish borders will not be carried out,” the coalition agreement reads. Led by the Social Democratic prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the new cabinet pledged to respect the "common rules that apply in the EU".

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Earlier this year, the previous centre-right government caved in to demands by the anti-immigrant Danish People's Party to increase border controls in return for securing the smaller party's support on pension reform.

Citing a rise in cross-border crime, the government announced "enhanced customs checks" and plans to re-construct border posts, scrapped when Denmark joined the border-free Schengen area in 1997. The European Commission and the German government promptly slammed the move as illegal.

Having reversed this controversial move, the Danish EU presidency, starting on 1 January 2012, will focus on "an offensive agenda in green and sustainable growth in the light of the international financial crisis and climate crisis."

The Thorning-Schmidt team is also free of the legacy of its predecessor which failed to reach an international agreement at the UN climate summit held in Copenhagen in December 2009. Climate talks have reached modest agreements last year in Cancun and will continue in Rio in June.

"The government will push for a 30 percent CO2 reduction in the EU in 2020 compared to 1990. We will work to ensure that EU internal market increasingly supports the demand for sustainable products and solutions," the coalition document reads.

A second priority for the Danish EU presidency will be to move the budget talks for the 2014-2020 period as far as possible. According to Danish diplomats, the new government may also consider asking for rebate of its own, if plans to scrap the British one turn out to be impossible to achieve, with Denmark being the EU's number one contributor per capita. "It will be increasingly difficult to sell this to our public," one diplomat told several Brussels-based journalists last week.

The only EU country to have opted out of the bloc's common defence policy, Denmark will also seek to abolish this via a referendum, the government agreement reads.

Another opt-out concerning justice and home affairs "prevents Denmark from participating in EU co-operation in the fight against organized crime, drug trafficking, terrorism, child pornography, money laundering, and cooperation on management of migration challenges, including illegal immigration and protection of trafficked women." The new government will seek to change this via a referendum so that the country can decide which parts of the justice and home affairs co-operation it will participate in.

As a non-euro country, Denmark's role in shaping the new eurozone governance will be limited to observer status. But having signed up to the euro-plus pact and by chairing the EU ministers' meetings, Copenhagen will, along with other non-euro states, seeking to be kept informed.

Denmark's border controls 'insufficiently justified', says commission

The European Commission on Monday warned Denmark it had given insufficient grounds for taking the controversial step of re-introducing border controls and said further EU monitoring is needed. Danish foreign minister Lene Espersen said there was a lot of "misunderstanding" around the issue.

Danish EU presidency to focus on euro crisis

Denmark's upcoming six months of chairing EU meetings and overseeing legislation in the making will mainly focus on fire-fighting the "worst crisis the EU ever had" and on the bloc's next budget, the Danish ambassador to the EU said Wednesday.

Opinion

Orbán's 'revenge law' is an Orwellian crackdown on education

On Tuesday, the Hungarian parliament passed a troubling piece of legislation known by its critics as the 'revenge law', which aims to punish and intimidate teachers who dare to defy Viktor Orbán's regime. This law is a brutally oppressive tool.

Latest News

  1. How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?
  2. Resurgent Fico hopes for Slovak comeback at Saturday's election
  3. EU and US urge Azerbijan to allow aid access to Armenians
  4. EU warns of Russian 'mass manipulation' as elections loom
  5. Blocking minority of EU states risks derailing asylum overhaul
  6. Will Poles vote for the end of democracy?
  7. IEA says: Go green now, save €11 trillion later
  8. The failure of the Just Energy Transition Fund in South Africa

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us