Statsrevisorerne presented two Rigsrevisionen reports on Monday that criticize Miljøstyrelsen’s control of pesticide use and marine fish farms in Denmark, calling the oversight strongly unsatisfactory.
The two reports were presented at a press conference in Copenhagen on Monday, September 7, 2026. As DR reported in a live blog, the reports examine whether Danish authorities have adequate control over the use of pesticides and over the country’s havbrug, the marine fish farms.
DR described the outcome as double criticism directed at the Environment Ministry. One of the two reports deals specifically with the control of pesticide use, while the other concerns the supervision of fish farms at sea.
According to Politiken, Rigsrevisionen labels Miljøstyrelsen’s control of both Danish fish farms and the use of pesticides on land as “stærkt utilfredsstillende”, meaning strongly unsatisfactory. That wording corresponds to the third of five criticism levels used in the system.
Politiken further reports that Statsrevisorerne went beyond Rigsrevisionen’s own wording. The body issued “skarp kritik”, or sharp criticism, which is the second-highest criticism level, covering the control of both fish farms and pesticide use.
Who presented the findings
Statsrevisorerne is the parliamentary body that reviews the state audit reports produced by Rigsrevisionen. Its chair, Mette Abildgaard of the Conservative People’s Party, presented the criticism of Miljøstyrelsen at Monday’s press conference, per Politiken.
Miljøstyrelsen, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, sits under the Environment Ministry and is the authority responsible for both areas covered in the reports. The two reports were published on the same day and presented together.
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The report on pesticide monitoring concerns the oversight of pesticide use on land. The second report concerns the control of fish farms operating in Danish waters.
The criticism levels applied by Rigsrevisionen and Statsrevisorerne form a five-step scale. As reported by Politiken, the reports land on level three, while Statsrevisorerne’s own conclusion sits one step higher on the scale.
DR covered the press conference live as the two reports were made public on Monday. The reports were the only items on the agenda at the event, which addressed the pesticide control and the fish farm control side by side.
No date has been named in the reporting for a formal response from the Environment Ministry or Miljøstyrelsen to the two reports.
