DENMARK Trends and Developments Contributed by: Flemming Elbæk, Helle Ina Elmer, Mads Lund and August Reinhold, HaugaardBraad
emissions data, vendor diligence and internal controls in late 2025 to prepare for the 2026 surrender cycle. There is also renewed public and political debate about nuclear energy in Denmark. Policy work is ongoing, but no hard change to the legal framework
after, and significant funding earmarked for land-use and nature restoration. This puts agriculture along- side energy and industry in the country’s fiscal climate framework and will have second-order effects on per- mitting and land reallocation. Separately, the 2024 amendment to the Industrial Emissions Directive (Directive (EU) 2024/1785) will, once transposed by 1 July 2026, tighten permitting for large pig and poultry farms and raise enforcement expectations. Green Marketing and Consumer Transparency With the EU Green Claims Directive now off the table after the Commission suspended talks in June 2025, Denmark continues to rely on the Danish Marketing Practices Act ( Markedsføringsloven ) and the Con- sumer Ombudsman’s guidance document on envi- ronmental claims. Enforcement is active: the Danish Supreme Court’s decision of 23 July 2024 (the Danish Crown case) con- firmed that broad climate claims can be misleading where the underlying basis is insufficiently document- ed or communicated. We are seeing more complaints and corrective actions, especially in FMCG, transport and energy retail. Circular Economy and Product Policy Extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packag- ing is now operational in Denmark, setting detailed obligations, including registration, membership of a producer-responsibility organisation (for single-use packaging), reporting and financing. By 1 June 2025, producers had submitted their first annual reports. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency has flagged that thousands of companies are in scope, yet awareness is uneven – a compliance gap likely to attract enforcement as municipal collection costs and allocation decisions flow through late 2025 and 2026. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) gives the Commission horizontal powers to set product-specific require- ments (durability, reparability, recycled content) and to roll out Digital Product Passports (DPPs). The Com- mission’s first ESPR Working Plan prioritises product groups important to Danish industry (eg, metals, tex-
has been adopted at the time of writing. Industrial Installations, Permitting and Enforcement
The 2024 amendment to the Industrial Emissions Directive (Directive (EU) 2024/1785) entered into force on 4 August 2024, and transposition is due by 1 July 2026. It expands scope to include activities such as large-scale battery manufacturing and certain mining operations, and increases coverage of intensive pig and poultry farms. It also strengthens enforcement, requiring member states to be able to levy fines of at least 3% of an operator’s EU turnover for the most serious infringements. Operators must also add an industrial transformation plan to their environmen- tal management systems by 30 June 2030 to chart a path to climate neutrality. Member states must roll out electronic permitting systems by 31 December 2035. For Denmark, this points to wider permitting obligations – especially for large battery production and intensive livestock – along with environmental management system upgrades and higher sanctions exposure once national rules are in place. Environmental Liability and Remediation The Nordic Waste landslip and pollution incident has put the issue of environmental liability and remediation at the centre of Danish public and political debate. It has refocused attention on who pays when an operator cannot, and whether Danish law sets sufficient insol- vency safeguards and enforcement/sanction pow- ers. In parallel at EU level, the Environmental Crime Directive (Directive (EU) 2024/1203) was updated in 2024 to raise maximum penalties and broaden offence definitions, and discussions about strengthening the Environmental Liability Directive (Directive 2004/35/ EC) framework are ongoing. Agriculture We are seeing Denmark consolidate the landmark political agreement to price agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from 2030, with rates phasing up there-
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