Political Risk:
Low
Score:
78/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
100/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
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The shape of Danish Defence and the country’s overall defence policy is laid out by a political agreement (Defence Agreement) [1]. The defence agreement…
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Parliament regularly discuss and approve laws on defence, including the yearly budget (as in the state budget negotiations) and major procurements. The Supplemental Agreement…
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No instances of undue influence on parliament by either the military or executive could be found [1].
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Q2
85/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
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There is a defence committee within the Danish parliament (Forsvarsudvalget). The Defence Committee deals with all aspects of Danish defence, including emergency management, and…
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According to the Standing Orders of the Danish Parliament, there is no requirement that committee members possess expertise or special knowledge on the committee…
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The Defence Committee reviews issues on defence on a regular basis. There is no evidence that the committee is confined, entitled or bound to…
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The Defence Committee meets regularly once a week and on ad hoc basis when issues occur. It regularly considers motions and bills and proposes…
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There is no evidence that the Defence Committee conducted any long-term investigations between 2015-2020 [1]. However, by law, it is the prerogative of the…
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This indicator is scored ‘Not Applicable’ as there is no evidence that the Defence Committee issues recommendations. There are no formal obligations to do…
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Q3
94/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
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There is evidence that ministers and policymakers participate in the public debate specifically about defence policy and security strategy: for instance, the incumbent Defence…
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The defence policy, as laid out in the “Defence Agreement”, is reached by political agreement. As such, all parameters of the defence policy are…
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The Defence Committee conducts public hearings on issues relevant to the defence policy, but not specifically on the Defence Agreement. However, these hearings are…
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The Danish white paper on foreign and security policy (formulated by the incumbent government) and the Defence Agreement are avaible online along with different…
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Q4
50/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
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There is no evidence of formal or informal policies that require openness towards CSOs [1].
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There is no specific law governing CSOs in Denmark, but the Danish Constitution ensures the right to form associations and organisations, and these cannot…
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As stated in the 2015 TI-GDII assessment, inclusion of CSOs in governmental work is based on traditions and norms and not on formal requirements…
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Q5
75/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
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Denmark has signed and ratified the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions [1] as well as the…
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In a 2015 review, OECD found that full implementation and enforcement of the OECD convention was incomplete [1]. Similarly in 2015, the United Nations…
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Q6
100/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
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There is a sustained and engaged public debate about defence issues. As indicated in Q3, the debate takes place within a variety of forums,…
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The government engages regularly in public debate about defence issues. The Minister of Defence often participates in conferences and seminars organised by think tanks,…
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Q7
63/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
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The Danish Penal Code also applies to employees (miliatry and civilian) in the Danish defence sector. The penal code criminalizes bribery and contains a…
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Research did not identify a specific action plan to foster effective implementation of the national anti-corruption legislation. However, in light of recent cases, the…
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Q8
58/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
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As the independent military prosecutor, The Ministry of Defence Military Prosecution Service (Forsvarets Auditørkorps) deals with all violations of the military and civil penal…
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The Ministry of Defence Military Prosecution Service is an independent service and does not form part of the military chain of command. The service…
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There are indications that attention is given to maintaining a highly skilled staff. For instance, The Ministry of Defence Military Prosecution Service has focused…
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Q9
NS/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. Denmark scores highly on Transparency International’s annual survey on corruption perception [1]. However, there…
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Q10
75/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
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Research indicates that the Defence Internal Audit Office identify such risks as part of their auditing of the Defence [1]. Namely, the MoD internal…
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The MoD internal auditing office compiles on a yearly basis an audit plan. The audit plan comprises the basis of a systematic risk assessment.…
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There is evidence to suggest that risk assessment findings are not incorporated into policy or practice on a regular basis. This is first and…
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Defence Budgets
Q11
92/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
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There is a clear process for the acquisition planning cycle [1] and internal functions within the Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation…
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Information about the acquisition process, tenders, forthcoming equipment, planned investments and so on is available on the DALO website [1]. However, description on processes…
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As The Ministry of Defence Internal Audit Office and The Danish National Audit Office audits the Defence, these offices also function as an oversight…
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Q12
100/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
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The defence budget is transparent as it is contained in the Finance Act (Finansloven). It contains comprehensive and disaggregated information on expenditure across all…
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The defence budget is contained in the Finance Act which is negotiated in Parliament each year. By law, the proposal for the Finance Act…
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Q13
88/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
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As the Finance Act (and thereby the defence budget) is subject to parliamentary negotiation each year, Parliament and its members scrutinise the defence budget…
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As the Finance Act (and thereby the defence budget) is subject to parliamentary negotiation each year, the budget is fixed for one year at…
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Q14
100/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
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As a part of the Finance Act, the defence budget is made publicly available online and in print [1]. As noted in Q12, it…
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As noted in Q12 and Q14A, the defence budget is fully disclosed and contains comprehensive and disaggregated information on expenditure across all functions. Comments…
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According to the Public Information Act (“Offentlighedsloven”), all actors within society can obtain information on the defence budget. However, restrictions on the grounds of…
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Q15
83/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
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Other sources of defence income are published in two sources: the annual reports of the Defence Command and the the defence budget as in…
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The Ministry of Defence Internal Audit Office and the Danish National Audit Office scrutinise the accounts of the Ministry of Defence (including Defence Command)…
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There are some indications that media and civil society is concerned with/about Defence equipment sales and property disposals when these occur. Some members of…
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Q16
44/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
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The Defence Internal Audit Office reviews the accounts of the entire domain of the Ministry of Defence (including all underlying agencies (“styrelser”) such as…
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Reviewing the governance paper of the Defence Internal Audit Office, there are not stipulations to dictate that the Defence Internal Audit report to a…
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Internal audit reports are not made public and no evidence suggest that internal audit reports are pro-actively released to legitimate external audit bodies [1].…
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As mentioned several times (see Q8, Q16A), research indicates a potential high degree of effectiveness of the audit: The office regularly identifies critical errors…
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Q17
88/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
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The Danish National Audit Office (Rigsrevisionen) carries out the annual financial audit of the government accounts as well as ad hoc studies, investigations and…
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The Danish National Audit Office is governed by legislation (The Auditor General Act) which, among other things, guarantees its independence [1]. The office is…
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Audit reports (“beretninger”) and comments (“notater”) are released to the public and they are available on the DNAO website when the meeting of the…
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There is evidence that the Ministry of Defence address audit findings in its practices. For instance, the Danish National Audit Office publish comments on…
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Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
67/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
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There is no law that prohibits Defence institutions’ association with natural resource exploitation.The exploitation of the country’s natural resources is regulated by the law…
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Research found no evidence of the defence institutions being involved in business related to the country’s natural resource exploitation [1, 2]. The only instances…
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Research shows no indications of active defence personnel being involved in business relating to the country’s natural resource exploitation. However, a test sample showed…
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as there is no evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses…
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as there is no evidence that Denmark’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated…
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Organised Crime
Q19
100/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
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The Danish Defence Intelligence Service is tasked with identifying threats against the activities and infrastructure of the Defence, both nationally and internationally. This specifically…
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By way of the Danish Defence Intelligence Service’s intelligence briefings and publications, the government must be said to be aware of the threat/possibility of…
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Q20
100/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
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The Ministry of Defence Military Prosecution Service has the prosecuting authority of all cases of violation of the civil and military penal code. Cases…
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The Ministry of Defence Military Prosecution Service is an independent authority under the Ministry of Defence. It is independent from the Defence and the…
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The cases of the Ministry of Defence Military Prosecution Service are investigated and/or prosecuted through formal procedures [1]. The cases are investigated by the…
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Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
75/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
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The Danish Defence Intelligence Service is subject to scrutiny and oversight on three different fronts that are all independent: 1) As the DDIS is…
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It is difficult to assess the effectiveness of the oversight mechanisms of the DDIS, since most information about the intelligence services is classified. The…
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Q22
100/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
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According to law, all positions in the public sector have to be publicly advertised [1, 2]. Some exceptions are written into law, but there…
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According to the DDIS information page on the selection of candidates, all applications are subject to a number of practical, theoretical and psychological tests…
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Since all employees in the DDIS are required to pass and maintain a security clearance, the hiring panel must possess one themselves [1]. Spouses/live-in…
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Export Controls
Q23
58/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
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Denmark signed and ratified the Arms Trade Treaty on 02 April 2014 [1, 2].
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The Minister of Justice provides licences for the production and export of arms and war materials [1, 2]. As an EU member, Denmark subscribes…
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Denmark does export arms and military equipment [1, 2]. Research found no indications that upcoming arms exports are subject to parliamentary approval or oversight.…
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Lobbying in Defence
There is no regulation or legislation on lobbying in Denmark, neither generally or specifically covering the defence institutions [1]. From time to time this…
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as the country does not have legislation that regulates lobbying in the defence sector.
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as the country does not have legislation that regulates lobbying in the defence sector.
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as the country does not have legislation that regulates lobbying in the defence sector.
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