A Copenhagen restaurant owner expressed shock after discovering the annual cost for maintaining just one outdoor table with two chairs. Karina Møller, who runs the small Italian restaurant C'ho Fame with her husband, faces a bill of nearly 12,000 Danish kroner yearly for minimal outdoor seating.
"We don't have a particularly large economy," Møller said in an interview. "We're a small place, so 12,000 kroner is a lot of money to pull from our budget."
The fee structure reveals significant disparities based on location within Copenhagen. The city divides outdoor dining into two zones with different rates. Zone A covers the medieval inner city and select popular streets, charging 31.22 kroner daily for 10 square meters of outdoor space. Zone B encompasses the rest of the municipality at 8.91 kroner daily for the same area.
Møller's establishment falls within expensive Zone A, making her minimal outdoor seating particularly costly relative to its potential revenue. "If we had permission for more tables, we wouldn't need to pay much more," she explained. "But because we only have one table, I don't think it's fair that we pay over 900 kroner monthly."
The industry association Horesta confirms this isn't an isolated concern. "When we ask our members about their biggest challenges, they consistently answer business costs," said the organization's managing director. "Outdoor seating can be a source of additional revenue, but here's an example where it barely pays to have outdoor service because it's become so expensive."
Restaurateurs face additional frustration because fees apply year-round, even during winter months when outdoor dining isn't practical. "We can't get permission to pay only for months when we actually use the table," Møller noted. "We must pay all year, even though we don't serve outdoors in winter. This hits completely wrong."
Copenhagen's technical and environment mayor declined interview requests about the criticism. The issue divides local politicians along predictable lines. Liberal Alliance's municipal candidate Signe Bøgevald wants the fees removed entirely, calling the rules inflexible and unfair.
By contrast, Conservative People's Party representative Morten Melchior supports the fee system in principle. "I think it's reasonable enough that restaurants should pay themselves," he stated, while remaining open to improving rule efficiency.
The controversy highlights broader tensions in Scandinavian urban planning between municipal revenue needs and small business viability. Similar outdoor dining fee debates have emerged in Stockholm and Oslo, where cities balance public space management against supporting local hospitality businesses. Copenhagen's approach particularly impacts smaller establishments that cannot spread fixed costs across multiple tables, potentially limiting the vibrant outdoor culture that defines Nordic summers.
This situation reflects ongoing challenges for Nordic small businesses facing multiple regulatory costs. The outcome could influence similar policies across Scandinavian capitals as they weigh urban space management against economic vitality.