EESC Fundamental Rights and Rule of Law Group concludes a visit to Denmark

On 9-10 June 2026, the Fundamental Rights and Rule of Law (FRRL) Group of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) concluded a two-day visit to Copenhagen. 

This visit gave the opportunity to the group of six EESC Members to hear civil society representatives about key trends in Denmark concerning fundamental rights of social partners, freedoms of association and assembly, freedom of expression (including media freedom), the right to non-discrimination, and the rule of law.  

Participants in the discussions particularly highlighted:

• Well-functioning social dialogue and consultation, effective labour dispute resolution and labour courts.
• Open civic space, available funding and formal channels for policy dialogue, but growing pressure on CSOs. 
• Insufficient and late access to documents, increased pressure on journalists, need to monitor creation of media ombudsman.
• Discrimination against Muslim immigrants, lack of equal opportunities for Greenlanders, insufficient attention to violence against women, and lack of investigation of hate element of crimes.
• Lack of revolving door policy, insufficient transparency on funding from political clubs, insufficient legal aid, and excessive use of pre-trial detention, and the use of belt-fixation in psychiatric settings.

The EESC delegation also discussed with the authorities of Denmark relaying the concerns raised by participants during the visit. 

A report will be issued in the coming months. 

The visit was the second one of the FRRL Group to Denmark, following a visit in 21-22 December 2020 (report). 

Background 

The EESC established in 2018 a Group on Fundamental Rights and the Rule of Law (FRRL Group), which is tasked to provide a forum for European civil society organisations to meet and discuss fundamental rights, democracy and the rule of law. The FRRL Group promotes respect for the European values listed in Article 2 TEU by raising awareness of and assessing the state of play of these values in the Member States and allowing for the exchange of good practices. To this end, the FRRL Group hosts hearings, conferences, and carries out country visits with the aim of identifying trends in Europe concerning fundamental rights and the rule of law, inasmuch as they develop in national contexts. 

Country visit reports are issued along with the observations of the authorities, a few months after the visits (they can be accessed here). The visit to Denmark is part of the second cycle of visits of the FRRL Group to all EU Member States. The Report synthesising the first cycle of country visits led in 2018-2019,  2020-2021, 2022  and 2023-2024 are available. 

For more information about the EESC FRRL Group methodology, see this document. 

The delegation of the FRRL Group to Denmark was composed of: 

• DEBAY, Pascal (Workers' Group, FR)
• KOMORÓCZKI István (Employers' Group, HU)
• MOOS, Christian (Civil Society Organisations' Group, DE)
• MORENO DÍAZ, José Antonio (Workers' Group, ES)
• NICLOT, Laure (Civil Society Organisations' Group, FR)
• ZVOLSKÁ, Marie (Employers' Group, CZ)