Mr Andrzej Domański, President (ECOFIN), Council of the European
Union.
Mr Valdis Dombrowskis, Commissioner for Economy and Productivity;
Implementation and Simplification, European Commission
April 30th 2025
Dear Sirs,
Denmark
hereby requests the activation of the national escape clause for the
period 2025 to 2028. This request is in accordance with Article 26 (1) of Reg-
ulation (EU) 2024/1263, and considering the Commission Communication
on a coordinated activation of the national escape clause.
Article 26(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1263 establishes that the national es-
cape clause can be activated if three conditions are met: (i) there are excep-
tional circumstances outside the control of the Member State, (ii) those cir-
cumstances have a major impact on the public finances of the Member State
concerned, and (iii) the deviation from the net expenditure path as set by the
Council does not endanger fiscal sustainability over the medium term:
1.
As acknowledged by the European Council, the urgency for the EU
Members States to significantly increase their defence spending results
from the serious consequences
that Russia’s
full-scale war of aggres-
sion against Ukraine has for European and global security in a deteri-
orating security environment. This situation is an exceptional circum-
stance outside the control of each Member State.
The government of Denmark considers that this exceptional circum-
stance requires a significant build-up of defence capabilities with a ma-
jor impact on its public finances. According to the available statistics
published by Eurostat and Statistics Denmark general government to-
tal defence expenditure (government expenditure by function (COFOG
division 02)) in Denmark amounted to 1,2 percent of GDP in 2021, 1,2
percent in 2022, 1,8 percent in 2023 and 1,8 percent of GDP in 2024
1
.
2.
1
Based on preliminary national accounts data from Statistics Denmark.
Økonomiministeriet
Ved Stranden 8
1061 København K
Telefon 40 20 86 87
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