Denmark's National Reform Programme 2016

The Danish economy is in an ongoing economic upturn even though growth is moderate. This is particularly evident on the labour and housing markets. The conditions for accelerating growth are present, and the focus of economic policy will to a larger extent be on the increase in capacity utilization. Thus, in coming years there will be a need for gradual tightening of fiscal policy from an accommodative starting point, and a close eye should be kept firmly on house-price developments and possible signs of labour shortages. Structural policy is still aimed at strengthening labour supply, increasing productivity, addressing macroeconomic imbalances and ensuring sustainable public finances.

Every spring, in the context of the European Semester, the individual EU countries forward their national reform programmes, which describe the countries’ structural reforms. Furthermore, annual stability and convergence programmes are forwarded focusing on medium-term macroeconomic projection and public finances.

Denmark’s National Reform Programme 2016 presents the measures that Denmark has taken in order to comply with the country-specific recommendations from EU received in July 2015. It also describes the Danish implementation of EU’s growth strategy (Europe 2020). Furthermore, the overall economic framework for the Danish economy is presented being based on Denmark’s Convergence Programme 2016.

The structure of Denmark’s National Reform Programme 2016 is as follows: 

• Chapter 2 describes the overall economic framework for Denmark, including the economic outlook and fiscal policy.
• Chapter 3 presents the initiatives that Denmark has undertaken and will undertake in order to comply with the country-specific recommendations received in July 2015.
• Chapter 4 regards the initiatives that Denmark has undertaken or will undertake to contribute to the fulfilment of the five main goals of the Europe 2020 strategy.
• Chapter 5 describes the involvement of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) and non-governmental organizations.

The individual chapters also address a number of the topics and issues raised in the European Commission's country report for Denmark, which was published in February 2016. Among others, the topics include productivity and competitiveness, public finances and fiscal policy, labour market and integration of refugees, property taxes, the housing market and household indebtedness, the current account surplus and barriers to investment.