The Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has published two compliance reports on Denmark assessing progress made in the implementation of the recommendations contained in its 2014 evaluation report on "Preventing corruption in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors" and the 2019 report on "Preventing corruption and promoting integrity in central governments (persons entrusted with top executive functions) and law enforcement agencies.
GRECO concludes that there has been no progress in Denmark's level of implementation of the four recommendations concerning members of parliament contained in the Fourth Round Evaluation report from 2014. Out of six recommendations in total, only two have been implemented satisfactorily (concerning judges and prosecutors). GRECO regrets that the outstanding recommendations regarding MPs remain unresolved. A Code of Conduct for members of parliament must be issued and coupled with counselling, awareness-raising, and supervision measures. The public registration system of occupations and financial interests of MPs needs to be further developed.
In view of the very low level of compliance with the recommendations, GRECO:
- invites the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to send a letter - with a copy to the Head of delegation of Denmark - to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, drawing the attention to non-compliance since 2018 with the relevant recommendations and the need to take determined action with a view to achieving tangible progress as soon as possible.
- recalls that the authorities will receive a high-level mission with a view to reinforcing the importance of complying with the outstanding recommendations.
- asks the Head of the Danish delegation to provide a report on the progress made in implementing recommendations by 30 November 2025 at the latest.
Concerning the second compliance of the Fifth Round Evaluation report from 2019 on "Preventing corruption and promoting integrity in central governments (persons entrusted with top executive functions) and law enforcement agencies", GRECO concludes that Denmark has implemented satisfactorily only two of the fourteen recommendations. Of the remaining recommendations, one remains been partly implemented and eleven remain not implemented.
