Denmark’s Zeitenwende
Denmark’s decision to end its opt-out from EU defence shows that it is still possible to win referendums on closer European integration. Yet it does not signal a broader shift in the country’s EU policy.
Experts & Staff
Lykke Friis
Co-chair of ECFR’s Council
Director of the Danish Think Tank Europa
Biography
Lykke Friis is director of Denmark’s Think Tank Europa. Previously, she served as prorector at the University of Copenhagen; Danish minister of climate, energy, and gender equality; and the Danish liberal party’s spokesperson for European affairs. In 2007, she was appointed as a member of the EU reflection group on the future of Europe. She also covered Germany as a correspondent for the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende. Besides ECFR, she chairs the board of directors of Denmark’s House of Energy, is a board member of Team Denmark, and is president of the Danish Cancer Society.
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Articles
Denmark’s Zeitenwende
Denmark’s decision to end its opt-out from EU defence shows that it is still possible to win referendums on closer European integration. Yet it does not signal a broader shift in the country’s EU policy.
Difficult allies: Denmark, social democrats, and the German election
One should not expect members of Europe’s political families to automatically cheer for one another. Copenhagen may find that implementing its European policy will become more difficult if the Social Democratic Party’s Olaf Scholz becomes German chancellor.
Reinventing Europe: Denmark caught between ‘ins’ and ‘outs’
As part of the ’Reinventing Europe' project, ECFR is publishing a series of papers on the national debates within EU member states over the crisis and the future direction of Europe. In the tenth of the series Lykke Friis and Jonas Parello-Plesner analyse the situation in Denmark.
How to extend Burma’s Spring
The EU is due to decide on Monday whether to lift sanctions against Burma. Instead of lifting all sanctions the EU should follow a gradual approach and focus on targeted assistance and an ambitious social-responsibility framework for European companies.
Podcasts
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Is the EU in a position to deliver a green grand bargain, or is its role as peripheral now as it was at COP15?
Germany’s election result and what it means for Europe
How are the German election results being perceived throughout Europe? And what do they mean for the future of our continent?
Europe’s pandemic politics: How the virus has changed the public’s worldview
As covid-19 raged, speculation grew that the crisis would re– strengthen public support for the state; faith in…
The EU recovery plan – rather a “Merkron” than a “Hamiltonian” moment?
The recent Franco-German proposal for an EU recovery fund sparked a lively debate on possible changes in EU’s nature, suggesting that the plan to raise…
Events
5 May
Transatlantic relations after President Joe Biden’s first 100 days in office
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