Danish People’s Party (Dansk Folkeparti) withdraws from climate law: “Blacker than black,” says the Minister of Climate. The leader of the Danish People’s Party, Morten Messerschmidt, has announced that the party is withdrawing from the climate law. On the social media platform X, Messerschmidt shared images of a text message he sent to the Minister of Climate and Energy, Lars Aagaard (M), where he states that the party will now work within the negotiation circles they are part of but will no longer take overall responsibility for the government’s climate policy. He criticizes the climate policy for being dictated by the left-wing’s “extreme desires” and for making it more expensive to be Danish, as well as for transforming the Danish landscape into “barren solar cell deserts.”
Messerschmidt points to the recently agreed-upon agricultural agreement, which includes, among other things, a CO2 tax, as the trigger for the party’s exit from the climate law. In his view, the recent years have seen a series of taxes and fees, and he believes that it must now be enough. He adds that, in his opinion, climate policy should not be constantly about raising taxes, which makes it more expensive to be Danish.
The three-party agreement presented on Monday evening, according to the Ministry of Finance’s assessment, will cost around 1000 jobs in the agricultural sector. However, the Minister for Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries, Jacob Jensen (V), expects a corresponding number of jobs to be created elsewhere, for example in forest planting and technical facilities. Calculations from the Department of Economics also show that the price of a package of minced beef will increase by one krone in 2030 as a result of the agreement.
Messerschmidt emphasizes that it is not the individual krone on minced beef that makes the difference but that a range of taxes collectively burdens ordinary people’s finances. He also mentions taxes on air travel, electricity, and diesel, as well as new housing requirements that entail significant renovation costs.
Asked if he had expected that the three-party agreement would not cost a single krone or job, Messerschmidt refers to the Prime Minister’s previous statements that the tax should not make food more expensive for the single mother. He notes that food will become more expensive, although not as much as feared, but still more expensive.
Minister of Climate Lars Aagaard responded to Messerschmidt’s announcement on X, where he writes that it is not surprising. He calls Messerschmidt’s color “blacker than black” and notes that this comes the day after a historic three-party agreement, where agriculture and the Danish Society for Nature Conservation stand together to take responsibility.
The climate law was passed in 2019 by a broad political majority consisting of the Social Democrats, Venstre (Liberal Party), Danish People’s Party, The Radicals, Socialist People’s Party, Unity List, Conservative People’s Party, and The Alternative.