Denmark ends mink farming after government drops EU exemption bid
Denmark's coalition government has decided not to seek an exemption from the EU's ban on keeping mink, ending mink farming in the country by August 2029.
Mink farming will end in Denmark by August 2029 after the coalition government decided on Friday not to seek an exemption from an EU-wide ban on keeping them (BBC News).
American mink were added to the EU’s list of invasive alien species in a 2025 update. The ban takes effect on 7 August 2027, followed by a two-year transition period to phase out the industry (NewsATW).
Denmark, one of the few EU countries where fur farming continues, alongside Finland, Greece and Poland, will not apply for a derogation. Finland asked for one last month (Rapporteur).
The decision, announced by the Ministry for Animal Welfare, reverses the push for a special scheme. The coalition, which took office in June 2026, chose instead to let the ban stand (Brussels Reporter).
Danish Nature Minister Christian Rabjerg Madsen said: “A business should not continue just because it has existed for a long time. It should also make sense for society, for the economy and for the animals.” He added: “The government has chosen animal welfare.”
Social Democrat MP Brigitte Vind called it “a good day for animal welfare” and said not pursuing a special scheme for mink breeding was the right decision.
Denmark was once the world’s largest mink-fur producer, but the industry has shrunk after fur-farming bans elsewhere, falling trade and the 2020 cull of about 15 million mink over a mutated Covid-19 strain, which the government later admitted had no legal basis. Seven farms and roughly 15,000 mink remain (Bytes Europe).
More on this topic: all World stories
