Brussels, 03/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 1 January 2012, Denmark discreetly took over the rotating helm of the European Union from Poland. The new Danish centre-left government has an ambitious agenda, despite its opting out of the euro, defence, judicial cooperation and European citizenship. According to Danish press agency Ritzau, Denmark will make little impact on European cooperation on a political level, although this is the area attracting the most attention for the moment. The agency points out that Denmark is not in the euro and anyway, the rotating presidency no longer has the importance it used to have.
This is the seventh time that Denmark has held the rotating presidency and it will focus on four areas - making Europe responsible, dynamic, green and safe. Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said the key priority would be to turn Europe into “a responsible economy” so that it can get over the current crisis and get onto a good track. Economic rules must be properly implemented to restore confidence on the money markets, she added in a recent interview. Pointing out that the debt crisis was not wreaking havoc in the eurozone alone, she said that the Danish Presidency would ensure that every member state implemented a responsible economic policy that was beneficial not only to that country alone, but also to the EU as a whole, using the European semester and the six-pack of new rules to this end.
In order to get Europe onto the right track, Thorning-Schmidt recommends a combination of cuts and economic growth because austerity and growth are perfectly compatible. She says a responsible economic policy is a necessary precondition for growth and growth is a condition for solving the crisis. Denmark wants a “more dynamic” Europe to restore confidence and create new jobs. Copenhagen wants to focus on the single market to make the most of the opportunities currently going to waste. Single market rules need updating and simplifying to keep up to speed with global competition, make life easier for business and improve access to public procurement markets, explained the Danish prime minister, adding that this needed to be accompanied by better access to risk-capital for small and medium-sized enterprises, expansion of the digital market in Europe and progress on the European patent.
When it comes to economic growth, Copenhagen will focus on the green economy because Europe currently faces a unique window of opportunity over the next few months to invest in competitive, green, growth. Denmark will focus on energy efficiency (with the aim of increasing the EU's energy efficiency by 20% by 2020) and moving the new EU energy efficiency directive forward. It is also planning to make use of the European Commission's reports on a low-carbon economy and the Energy Roadmap to ensure Europe has the right long-term energy and climate strategy because if one gets on track right now, by introducing good incentives and laying good foundations for a prosperous, green, European economy, then this will provide growth, jobs and a clean environment for current and future generations, explained the prime minister.
Denmark also wants Europe to be a safe place. The Danish PM said that in this age of globalisation, the only way to ensure people are free is by taking action at EU level. She said that the freedom of individuals to travel and live in the EU is one of the best things about Europe, but the EU had to deal effectively with the hindrances to freedom by ensuring member states cooperate better with one another. The Danish Presidency, for example, wants to ensure progress in the talks on European police investigations and expansion of the Schengen area by introducing new mechanisms to monitor and deal with difficult situations like a mass flux of would-be immigrants on the EU's borders and basically how the system operates.
Another important issue for the Danes is the talks on the EU's budget for 2014-2020, which it hopes will focus on stimulating jobs and growth and provide genuine value-added to EU citizens. Thorning-Schmidt said that Denmark would do all in its power to devise a raft of proposals for the final round of talks in the second half of 2012. (CG/transl.fl)