EUDO Citizenship expert Eva Ersbøll has criticised the plan of the Danish Integration Minister Inger Støjberg to restrict naturalisation conditions retroactively. She also finds the proposal to be contrary to general legal principles, among others, the protection of the applicants’ legitimate expectations. 

For EUDO Citizenship, Ersbøll also adds that Støjberg’s earlier unsuccessful proposal had not centered on future naturalisations. Rather, it concerned around 2.500 people who had been included in the naturalisation bill that was presented in Parliament in April and that had been approved during the first and second reading in Parliament and in the Naturalisation Committee. About one week before the third reading in Parliament and thus, one week before the adoption of the bill, the general election was held. As a consequence, all pending bills in Parliament fell. However, such bills may be introduced in the new Parliament, as is always the case with naturalisation bills. Hence applicants previously included in the fallen April bill would be included in the new bill, which will be presented to Parliament in October. According to Ersbøll, the debated issue was whether all applicants would be included in the bill or only those who would meet the new (not yet adopted) naturalisation conditions.

Read more in The Local, and consult our country profile pages for further information on past and current citizenship legislation in Denmark.