France and Denmark
Political relations
Political relations between France and Denmark are long-standing, sustained and marked by confidence. King Frederik X, son of Queen Margrethe II and the Frenchman Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, is a fluent French speaker, just like his brother, Prince Joachim, who was the Defence attaché of the Danish embassy in France.
Our analyses converge on many international policy issues (peacekeeping, interest in preventive actions in Africa, primacy of international law, environment). These close ties are destined to grow stronger, in a bilateral, European or NATO-related context.
In addition to this institutional cooperation, the positive interest that the Danish “model” (environment, healthcare, soft mobility, innovation) incites in France has led to many working visits by political and administrative officials and members of civil society at all levels.
French presence
Consular section at the Embassy in Copenhagen
7 honorary consular sections (Denmark, Greenland, Faroe Islands)
French community in Denmark: 6,100 registered and around 3,000 non-registered
Danish community in France: approximately 3,000
Visits
On 28 and 29 August 2018, the French President made a historic State visit, the first to Denmark in over 35 years. Several cooperation agreements and letters of intent were signed during the visit (defence; development, with an emphasis on the Sahel; energy and climate; cinema coproduction; university cooperation; ethical fashion; shareholder foundation) which also brought large-scale media and public visibility. This visit gave great momentum to the political relationship between French and Denmark, further strengthened by the support of the Danish Royal Family. The visit to Paris by then-Prince Frederik and Princess Mary, from 6 to 8 October 2019, also helped strengthen our economic and trade ties.
The Foreign Ministers of both countries are in regular contact. Following his appointment to the post of Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Lars Løkke Rasmussen visited Paris on 10 January 2023, after his first visit abroad in Berlin. He also met his counterpart Stéphane Séjourné in Copenhagen on 22 March 2024, and again in Paris on 2 August 2024.
In other ministerial visits, then Minister for National Education and Youth, Gabriel Attal, made a trip to Copenhagen on 22 September 2023, and Minister Delegate Olivier Becht had a meeting with Mr Lars Løkke Rasmussen and several business leaders during a trip to Denmark on 13 October 2023.
Economic relations
Our economic relations have been growing stronger for several years, and reached a new record in 2023, with trade in goods equalling €7.9 billion. In 2024, France was Denmark’s 9th-largest customer and 10th-largest supplier. The leading French exports in 2024 continued to be pharmaceutical products (16% of total exports), products for the automotive industry (12%), general-use machinery and equipment (7%) and beverages (6%). In France, Denmark finds many outlets for its pharmaceutical industry (14% of French imports), and also electrical equipment (16% of total imports), general-use machinery and equipment (10%) and processed and preserved fish products (4%). Denmark is one of our priority countries for external trade and investment, and France has been the leading European destination for Danish investment for four years. France’s trade surplus with Denmark has continued to grow since 2021 (€527 M in 2024 compared to €389 M in 2023). Denmark is the only Nordic country with which France has traditionally enjoyed a trade surplus.
Some 220 French companies are established in Denmark and employ more than 13,000 people, some of which are Total, Saint-Gobain, Keolis, Capgemini, BNP Paribas and Renault. More than 400 Danish businesses are set up in France, including Novo Nordisk (medicines and biotechnology), Carlsberg, Velux, DFDS and William Demant (hearing aids).
A new bilateral tax agreement entered into force on 29 December 2023, providing a conventional framework to eliminate double taxation, including regarding pensions, while ensuring that violations, evasion and tax fraud are prevented.
Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation
The Institut Français in Denmark (IFD) in Copenhagen is the operator of cultural cooperation conducted by the French Embassy in Denmark.
Scientific cooperation covers the fields of energy and environment, cutting-edge engineering, healthcare, ICT, and Arctic and sub-Arctic studies. It operates mainly through relations between research institutions (Partnership Agreement in 2006 between the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF)). The state Visit in 2018 was an opportunity to promote bilateral academic exchanges through European programmes and sign a cooperation agreement between Université Paris 8 and Roskilde University, and a letter of intent on space cooperation. Since then, major bilateral research agreements have been regularly signed: between the CNRS and the University of Copenhagen in September 2021 and between the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) and the Danish National Genome Center in March 2023, for example.
The IFD conducts a policy of supporting the mobility of French and Danish researchers through the “IFD Sciences” and “Blåtand” programmes. For the year 2023/2024, the scientific service prioritized three new scientific fields: artificial intelligence, quantum physics and space research.
Regarding student mobility, there is a disproportionate number of French students travelling to Denmark to study (600 students) compared to the number of Danish exchange students in France (around 300), as Danish students receive a universal student income in their country. Nonetheless, work is underway to boost the exchanges in certain courses in the fields of agriculture, hospitality and catering.
French is the third-most-studied language in the Danish national education system, after English and German. However, the Danish authorities are showing strong political intentions to reduce the number of languages offered, thereby creating a major challenge for French language-learning. The number of French language-learners remains steady, but with geographical disparities depending on the regions. The Danish interest in the French language extends beyond schools: French classes offered by the IFD are extremely popular among the public, with more than 1,200 enrolled (755 different learners) in 2023.
Updated: april 2025