Here are 11 new laws and regulations that will come into effect starting in the new year 2025
As always, 2025 brings with it a number of new laws and regulations coming into effect, and TV 2 has compiled a selection of them, which are as follows:
- Foster families from Rainbow Families gain better rights
Rainbow families received an early Christmas present from very large families, when the Danish parliament, just before Christmas, adopted a series of changes to recognize alternative family forms:
The term “common father” was introduced into the law, similar to the term “common mother”.
The next time a couple holds a baby born to a surrogate mother, they can be registered as the child's parents immediately. Until now, it required what was called partner adoption in order to register a co-parent as a parent.
The change applies to the parentage of children born to a surrogate mother based on the Danish altruistic surrogacy agreement or a foreign surrogacy agreement.
Both parents are entitled to the absence and maternity allowance from the birth of the child.
Up to 100 babies come to Denmark each year using commercial surrogacy agreements abroad.
- New language rules for driving tests
There is no longer an interpreter sitting in the back seat translating into Arabic, Persian, or Urdu when you take your driving test. As of January 1st, you can only take your driving test in Denmark in Danish, English, Faroese, Greenlandic, and German.
The new rules apply to both the theory and practical driving tests in all categories of driving licenses, including for students already in the process of obtaining their driver's license.
The Danish Transport Agency continues to pay for interpreters to conduct the tests in the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Germany.
- Better protection for child actors
Earlier this year, there was strong criticism of the working conditions of children involved in television Christmas calendars on DR and TV2. DR reported on a 6-year-old girl working at midnight, a 13-year-old girl who was dismissed without notice, and repeated violations of working hours by a 9-year-old girl. Until now, the police were responsible for issuing work permits to children under 13, but starting in the new year, this responsibility will be transferred to the Danish Work Environment Authority, which will also oversee the working conditions of child actors.
During a two-year trial period, the inspection body will also visit all major television productions featuring children. Meanwhile, the industry has developed new common guidelines to ensure suitable working conditions for child and young actors. These guidelines will also come into effect on New Year's Day.
- The "craftsman" discount for homeowners is back in operation
After the craft discount was abolished by the previous government in 2021, the new year's finance law welcomes the return of a familiar, popular old practice: the merchant discount.
The discount amounts to 8,600 Danish kroner per year per household and can be used for both regular residences and holiday homes. However, it cannot be applied to both properties in the same year. The discount targets "green renovations" such as climate protection and energy renewal within the home. This means, among other things, that homeowners can receive a discount for new windows, cavity wall insulation, and volumetric drainage installation.
At the same time, the service discount, which can currently be used for gardening, childcare, and house cleaning, is being expanded. In the future, it will also be possible to use it for, for example, tree trimming, gutter cleaning, and the installation of home burglar alarms, and the total discount will increase to 17,500 Danish kroner per year.
- Doctors must be compelled to work in 17 selected municipalities.
There will be no new medical clinics in Aalborg, Esbjerg, Aarhus, Copenhagen and 67 other municipalities in the country as a result of an agreement between the government and the regions, which should ensure better medical coverage in the areas of the country with the largest number of patients.
As of January 1, 2025, new medical clinics can only be established in 17 selected municipalities: Vordingborg, Lolland, Guldborgsund, Kalundborg, Odsherred, Lejre, Holbæk, Brønderslev, Frederikshavn, Hjørring, Læsø, Morsø, Thisted, Næstved, Ringsted, Sorø og Slagelse
Large university hospitals are also prohibited from hiring general practitioners for two years. The agreement is considered the first step in reforming the healthcare system. .
- Mailboxes should be more easily accessible.
If you live in a rural area, you'll have to go a little further in the new year to collect your mail. An amendment to the Postal Act is coming into effect, and therefore, residents of rural Denmark must place their mailboxes at the entrance from a public road or shared private road by January 1st at the latest. A mailbox must be installed for each household, unless a shared mailbox is provided for residents of the road.
Costs must be reduced so that the Danish postal service can continue delivering mail to rural areas. However, the change has caused considerable anxiety for the elderly and the most vulnerable members of the rural population, who were exempt from digital mail and were therefore accustomed to having mail delivered to their homes. They must now get dressed and go out – or seek assistance to do so.
- Asbestos should be left to the professionals.
As of the new year, private homeowners can no longer demolish asbestos-containing materials themselves, except for short-term demolition work such as removing individual panels. Instead, work using asbestos must be carried out by companies with a special permit to avoid a fine. For companies without a permit, the fine is typically 30,000 Danish kroner. For individuals, the starting fine is 15,000 Danish kroner. The purpose of the law is to ensure that fewer people are exposed to toxic asbestos dust and that those who have to handle it are the ones who control the regulations.
- 37-hour work commitment for citizens in the cash assistance system
“More women from non-Western backgrounds need to go to work. It’s good for themselves, for their children, and for society,” was the message Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen delivered last year. Because you must be able to support yourself if you come to Denmark. And if you can’t find a job yourself, others will now.
Starting in January, a 37-hour work obligation will be imposed on citizens in the cash assistance scheme who do not meet the residency and employment requirements.
These are people who have not lived in Denmark for nine of the past ten years, and citizens who have not had a full-time job for 2.5 of the past ten years.
From now on, they will be required to participate in full-time work for up to 37 hours per week. This could be an internship at the company, a useful endeavor, a salary-supplementing job, or Danish language classes. If you fail to fulfill your obligation to contribute 37 hours per week, you will lose your benefits. 22,000 citizens are subject to this work obligation.
- Carbon dioxide tax on truck driving comes into effect
The much-discussed carbon dioxide tax on truck driving has become a reality. In particular, the leader of the Danish Democrats, Inger Støjberg, objected to the tax, calling it a “stupid fine” that would disproportionately affect rural areas. Angry truck drivers across the country also protested in May 2023 by blocking highway exits and disrupting traffic by driving slowly on the motorway toward the Danish parliament building in Christiansborg, where they formed long queues.
However, starting January 1st, all trucks weighing 12 tons or more must pay a toll per kilometer traveled. From 2027, this will also apply to trucks with a payload exceeding 3.5 tons.
The tax amount depends on the truck's weight, the amount of carbon dioxide it emits, and where it is driven in the country. On average, the tax is expected to be around 1.3 Danish kroner per kilometer in 2030.
Trucks currently emit approximately 1.7 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, and the purpose of the new tax is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and ensure the green transformation of the industry.
Along with other climate measures in the region, the tax is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 0.3 million tons in 2025 and 0.4 million tons in 2030.
- Companies must pay for their carbon dioxide emissions.
The green tax reform is also coming into effect, along with the imposition of a carbon dioxide tax on industry, which was adopted in 2022.
For companies not covered by the EU's allowance trading scheme, this means a tax of 750 kroner per ton of carbon dioxide emitted.
It will be slightly cheaper for companies covered by the EU's share trading scheme, where the tax on each ton of carbon dioxide emitted will be 375 Danish kroner.
Finally, special consideration was given to companies “exposed to competition” – companies that engage in so-called metallurgical operations that avoid a tax of 125 Danish kroner per ton of carbon dioxide emitted.
The tax will also affect Danish fisheries, which from 2025 will have to pay 2.25 Danish kroner per liter of fuel.
In addition, Danish ferries are subject to a tax of 750 Danish kroner per ton of carbon dioxide emitted, a move that has raised concerns among the Association of Small Island States of Denmark. They fear the tax will mean fewer and more expensive departures to the smallest islands and will hinder the transition to electricity if shipping companies' finances come under pressure. The overall aim is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by a total of 4.3 million tons by 2030.
- No more foreign flags on the flagpole
You can raise pirate flags and rainbow flags, but you cannot raise foreign flags on the flagpoles.
The majority in the Danish parliament adopted an amendment to the Flag Act that would make it illegal to fly foreign flags on a flagpole from January 1, 2025.
However, there is an exception that makes it legal to fly the flags of Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland. The Ministry of Justice will then make it legal to fly certain flags—such as the Ukrainian flag—in exceptional circumstances.
The debate over which flags should be flown has been ongoing for several years and continues to rage in Danish politics. The Ministry of Justice last lifted the ban in the summer of 2023, after a man from Kolding flew the American flag and faced a criminal case in the Supreme Court, which ultimately resulted in his acquittal. Now, the ban is being reintroduced.
Sources: Danish Transport Agency, DR, Norwegian Work Environment Authority, Ministry of Employment, Danish Parliament, Knowledge Centre Polius, International Employment and Integration Agency, Ministry of Taxation, Ministry of Justice, KMPG, Deloitte, as reported by TV2. .
