Denmark Supports EU-Wide Deal on Digital Tax, Premier Says

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Denmark would support an European Union-wide agreement to the digital tax controversy should a global deal fail, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told an EU conference in Copenhagen.

“A year ago, the Danish government did not want a joint European digital tax. Today the Danish government does,” Frederiksen said in her first major speech on the EU since assuming office in June.

Under the previous center-right administration led by Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Denmark was one of the few European countries to oppose a digital tax targeting major U.S. companies for fear of retaliatory measures against its own multinationals.

The European Commission says it’s willing to look into an EU-wide proposal should efforts to reach a global solution fail.

Participants from more than 135 nations will meet at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris on Wednesday to approve the architecture for a global deal.

Speaking at a conference organized by the Danish Europa think tank, Frederiksen listed climate change and migration as the EU’s biggest challenges.

(Adds background in third paragraph, EU priorities in final paragraph)

To contact the reporter on this story: Morten Buttler in Copenhagen at mbuttler@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christian Wienberg at cwienberg@bloomberg.net, Nick Rigillo

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