Minister Vows to Cut 17.5 Billion Kroner in Business Burdens

Danish companies face an estimated 70 billion kroner in administrative burdens, according to figures compiled by the Ministry of Business. Minister Martin Lidegaard says the government intends to remove 17.5 billion kroner of that burden.

The target follows the center-left government’s program, which promises to reduce the burden on Danish businesses by 25 percent by 2035. Lidegaard said the ministry had added up the costs and argued that billions were being spent each year on cumbersome bureaucracy instead of innovation, progress and growth.

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We cannot accept Danish companies losing sight of the horizon because of a mountain of bureaucracy. That is why we must clean it up.

The ministry estimates that two-thirds of the 70 billion kroner comes from European Union rules. The new figure exceeds a 2025 estimate from the Danish Employers’ Association, which put companies’ administrative burdens at 46 billion kroner in 2024.

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Commendable

Lidegaard is due to present the new calculation at the Danish Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting. Its chief executive, Brian Mikkelsen, called the government’s intention to tackle the issue seriously “commendable.” He said governments had promised to fight red tape for 45 years, since Poul Schlüter’s time, and now needed to turn words into action.

Mikkelsen said the government should achieve one-third of its 2035 reduction target by the end of 2027. That would put the early focus on implementation rather than another promise to reduce paperwork.

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We have heard about a reckoning with red tape and burdens from successive governments for 45 years since Poul Schlüter’s time. Now it is about turning words into reality.