Danish national crisis management 

In the event of a crisis the operative level may take the necessary measures without awaiting authorisation from the central level. National coordination may be required in the case of incidents of national importance.

In the case of incidents of national importance the authorities may coordinate their activities in two forums: 

• The National Operative Staff (NOST) is a forum for coordination in the case of major incidents that cannot be resolved at regional level including terrorist acts in Denmark. The staff creates and maintains clarity and an overview of the given situation in order to facilitate decision-making in the different sectors and nationally. The staff is chaired by the National Danish Police. The members are the relevant authorities depending on the crisis.
• The International Operative Staff (IOS) is a forum for coordination of Danish action in emergencies that occur abroad, including aid to Danish citizens affected by disasters. The staff is chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The members are the relevant authorities, supplemented on a case by case basis by other public and private entities, e.g. from the tourism industry.

Incidents of political importance may activate the government’s crisis management organisation. It consists of three levels:

• The Government Security Committee, which consists of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Economic and Business Affairs, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defence and the Minister of Justice.
• The Senior Officials' Security Committee, which consists of the permanent secretaries of the above-mentioned ministries, the Head of the Defence Intelligence Service and the Head of the Security Intelligence Service.
• The Crisis Management Group, which consists of departmental and undersecretary level representatives of the above-mentioned authorities, as well as of the of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, Defence Command Denmark, the National Danish Police and DEMA.

Danish preparedness legislation does not provide directly for the use of “discretionary powers”. The parliament may in special cases fast-track extra funds, if expenses exceed the financial limit of the authorities.