Implementation of the strategic framework

Denmark will continue to seek influence in the EU work at the political level and through its Brussels-based participation through the Permanent Representation of Denmark to the EU. The latter participates in the formal decision-making fora and Council working groups in order to influence policy proposals and EU positions in a direction that promotes Danish interests. However, Denmark also wishes to strengthen its influence through early dialogue with relevant actors in the EU institutions regarding policy proposals in their formulation phase. Moreover, Danish Ministers achieve significant influence on the EU’s strategic direction and policies through their participation in Council of Ministers meetings.

The cooperation and interaction between the Danish embassies and EU Delegations at country level will be strengthened, as it can ensure strong Danish fingerprints on EU country analyses and programming documents as well as closer follow-up to implementation of EU policies and activities in the field. The same level of strategic influence is achieved to a lesser extent in the Brussels-based management committees, in which the Member States are traditionally only consulted at the final phase of the programming. Denmark will therefore only prioritise participation in these fora when there is clear added value.
There is also much to gain through the secondment of Danish staff in areas of strategic importance in EU institutions and at EU Delegations. Denmark will continue to make Danish knowledge, competencies and experience available. Similarly, the Danish Foreign Service will focus more on utilising the experience gained from working in the EU.

Alliance building and networking with like-minded Member States will be strengthened, as this offers a key way to secure a more effective voice when negotiating in the EU or when seeking to influence the thinking. There also lies a potential in building on cooperation with non-traditional countries and partners as well as think-tanks, civil society organisations and EU parliamentarians. Denmark can also exert influence and affect processes by taking initiatives that promote greater understanding or debate in a particular area.

In the ongoing monitoring of goals and targets, the EU’s own reporting and evaluation system will be used, including in particular the European Court of Auditors’ reports as well as the Commission’s annual reports. Denmark will work to ensure that the EU’s reporting system is made as transparent and useful as possible, so that the results are both tangible and can be communicated to the general public. The Member States should become more greatly involved in the internal evaluation processes, so as to facilitate open dialogue regarding results achieved through EU development cooperation.

The monitoring will also be based on the feedback received from Danish embassies regarding progress and results, but also limitations and bottlenecks in the local EU cooperation, which can be addressed in the dialogue with the EU institutions. The meetings of the Directors General of the European Commission will also be an important forum in this regard.