High degree of tolerance
In November 2003, the Government adopted an action plan for the promotion of equal treatment and diversity and to combat racism.
The initiatives in this action plan are intended to ensure that there is room for diversity in Denmark and that we learn to benefit from it. The plan includes financial support for dialogue meetings on ethnic minority participation in political activities, and local events that focus on diversity.
In 2003 and 2004, the Government passed legislation to provide protection against discrimination in Danish society.
This legislation has provided persons who feel that they are suffering discrimination with direct access to appeal to the Complaints Committee for Equal Ethnic Treatment.
In March 2005, the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) issued a report showing that Denmark is below the EU average in expressing resistance to multicultural society.
In 1999, the European Values Study took place in 31 European countries and included information about attitudes towards ethnic minorities. Of these 31 European countries, the Danish population displays the fourth least xenophobic attitude towards having people of a different race, Jews, Muslims, immigrants and Romanies as neighbours.
In 2005, the principal organisational body of Danish Trade Unions (Danish Confederation of Trade Unions, LO) initiated an interview survey of the Danish population concerning the view of working alongside ethnic colleagues in the workplace. 93% of the 1,008 respondents who work with one or more persons of a different ethnic background say that they have no problems in working with them.
The analysis bureau Catinét Research monitors trends in integration in Denmark by means of six-monthly interviews with about 1,000 immigrants and descendants.
In the first half-year report of 2005, 33% of immigrants and descendants interviewed answered that they experienced discrimination. This figure was 37% in the first half-year report of 2001.
In addition, 66% of immigrants and descendants answered in 2005 (first half-year) that they feel well integrated into Danish society, which is an increase since 2001 (first half-year), when 53% felt well integrated.