Tuesday

5th Dec 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.

Orban's sovereignty bill seen as fresh attack on rule of law

Hungary's new sovereignty law has been criticised by the opposition as 'another dark milestone' for the country's democratic values and the rule of law — and it could bring yet another clash between Budapest and Brussels.

Analysis

How Wilders' Dutch extremism goes way beyond Islamophobia

Without losing sight of his pervasive Islamophobia, it is essential to note Geert Wilders' far-right extremism extends to other issues that could drastically alter the nature of Dutch politics — and end its often constructive role in advancing EU policies.

Latest News

  1. EU nears deal to fingerprint six year-old asylum seekers
  2. Orbán's Ukraine-veto threat escalates ahead of EU summit
  3. Can Green Deal survive the 2024 European election?
  4. Protecting workers' rights throughout the AI revolution
  5. Russia, the West, and the geopolitical 'touch-move rule'
  6. Afghanistan is a 'forever emergency,' says UN head
  7. EU public procurement reform 'ineffective', find auditors
  8. COP28 warned over-relying on carbon capture costs €27 trillion

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  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

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us