EU defence cooperation: Council welcomes Denmark into PESCO and launches the 5th wave of new PESCO projects

Today the Council adopted a decision confirming Denmark’s participation in the Permanent Structured Cooperation. Denmark therefore becomes the 26th member of PESCO.

In a referendum on 1 June 2022, Danish voters supported Denmark joining the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy ending the country’s 30-year-long opt-out on EU’s defence cooperation.

As a result, Denmark joined the EU cooperation on security and defence on 1 July 2022, and started to contribute to EU’s military CSDP missions and operations. On 23 March 2023, it notified the Council and the High Representative of its intention to participate in PESCO and its ability to meet the commitments. Denmark has also joined the European Defence Agency in March 2023.