Thought Leadership
Lobbying in Denmark
The Danish parliamentary system has no formal rules or legislation for regulating lobbying activity. However, a number of established practices exist which effectively recognize the lobbying activities of interest groups in Denmark. For example, lobbying groups that lobby for the Standing Committees of the Folketing (Lower House) through delegations and petitions have their names recorded in the archives of the Committees. Plus, it is required that they have the working documents registered. Additionally, the names of lobbying groups are given in committee reports and are submitted to the Folketing which are published in the Danish parliamentary journal, Folketingstidende.
On 3rd April 1991, the Standing Orders Committee of the Folketing created certain rules with regards to the written material of parliamentary committees and access to information held.
According to these Rules, the public has access to all written material from the committees of the Folketing. The written material also includes petitions to standing committees and individual members of the Folketing which is collected in the archives of the Folketing.
The Rules
The main rules governing the admittance of delegations permitted to address a Standing Committee are the following:
· When debates occur in the Folketing, the delegations’ members must have a natural affiliation with the person, organization or association.
· People without any credible affiliation to the delegation are not allowed to participate in the hearing.
· The spokesperson of a delegation is permitted an assistant who is among the participants. The spokesperson can make a short statement of the delegation’s position to the Committee.
· Following this statement, the members of the Committee may ask questions and receive replies from the delegation.
· The delegation is disallowed from posing questions to members of the Committee.
· The hearing lasts only as long as 10 to 15 minutes.
The Committees of the Department of the Folketing must receive sufficient copies of written material in good time to enable them to verify the copies and analyze its contents. All details of the delegation including any changes made to the composition of the delegation must be given to the Committees Department in not more than 24 hours before the hearing.
But for now, all these rules are unwritten traditions; however, it is a fact that lobbying activity is on the rise in Denmark. Hence, it is possible that statutory rules will be applied to regulate lobbying activity very soon.
