On Tuesday 3 June, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, whose country will hold the six-month presidency of the EU Council from July onwards, said that “being a part of the Frugal Four is no longer the right place for us”. In mid-July, the European Commission is due to present its first proposal for a Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028-2034.
“Last time we had a leading role in the Frugal Four. Next time we’ll have a leading role in another group because things have changed and the world is changing rapidly and we have to find the right answers to all these challenges in front of us”, explained Ms Frederiksen at a press conference in Copenhagen with President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola.
The prime minister felt that the most important thing was to rearm Europe, which would be her “starting point and [her] conclusion in all discussions”. “All other priorities and all other principles and discussions have to be taken after deciding and taking the needed decisions on how we are going to re-arm ourselves”, with 2030 as the “latest point”, added Ms Frederiksen.
While Ms Metsola called for a new MFF that was “more agile, more flexible and more adaptable”, Ms Frederiksen stressed that it was indeed necessary to be more flexible, but also to have a budget that responded to priorities. “As Danes, we will always be tough in negotiations on the budget. We don’t want money to be spent on anything that isn’t necessary for Europe”, she warned.
“What we would not want is that we put everything in one or two programmes and forget everything else”, warned Ms Metsola, stressing that safety and competitiveness must “be at the heart of everything”.
Believing that Europe is facing “the greatest challenges in generations”, the Danish prime minister explained that Europeans needed to work even more closely together than in the past. “We need solid and honest relations between our countries and between the institutions that unite us”, she added.
According to Ms Frederiksen, processes must be accelerated so that decisions translate into concrete actions. “We need to focus on our priorities, find solutions to our common challenges of migration and rising energy prices and, above all, strengthen our support for Ukraine. All of this has the same common goal: to build a strong and secure Europe”, she explained.
Ms Metsola welcomed Denmark’s focus during its forthcoming presidency on strengthening European security, competitiveness and democracy. “In these uncertain times, we need a Europe that is stronger and safer, smarter and faster. (...) A strong and secure Europe also needs a strong and intelligent economy to make the necessary investments. And to do that, we need reform”, summarised Ms Metsola. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)