Danish opt-out in the European Defense: New Challenges
The article analyzes the features of Denmark’s participation in the European Union. The country has a number of opt-outs from the general rules for the functioning of the EU, including under the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). The intensive development of this area in the last decade, including the established Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), and the emergence of new security challenges make the question of the format of Denmark’s participation in these projects highly relevant. The author concludes that clearly limiting this opt-out allows Denmark to take benefit from participation in defense-related projects that are formally outside the CSDP framework, but fall within the joint competence of the Union and the Member States. At the same time, the rejection of the «Danish reservations» does not seem likely in the near future for domestic political reasons.