Danish government sets priorities for EU council presidency
As 2011 nears its end, it's that time of year when the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union welcomes a new country; as the bells strike midnight on New Year's Eve, it will be the Danes' turn to step up to the plate, and organize and lead the work of the Council over the coming six months. The Danish government has just announced its presidency work programme: the main objectives are to make Europe responsible, dynamic, green and safe. And with the economic crisis in Europe far from over, it seems that inspiring growth will remain top of the Danes to-do list. Speaking at a meeting of the Council's General Affairs Council in early December, Danish Minister for European Affairs Nicolai Wammen said: 'The Danish presidency will work hard to deliver concrete results in these areas and contribute to bringing the European Union out of the economic crisis and into a future growth-track. Parts of Europe have demonstrated economic irresponsibility, which has damaged our joint project. We need more responsibility in Europe. At the moment, Europe is dealing with low growth rates and is dropping behind in global competitiveness. We must promote initiatives that can generate a more dynamic Europe.' And with climate change increasingly relegated to the sidelines amid continued talk of economic woes, the Danish presidency hopes to keep this most difficult and pressing challenge for Europe and the world at the top of policymakers' agendas. Minister Wammen explains: 'We are experiencing competition from other parts of the world for Europe's lead position in promoting the environmental area and we must therefore advance the green agenda in Europe.' He discussed the risk of losing knowledge-intensive jobs and high-tech research capabilities to other more economically attractive parts of the world such as China, India, South Korea and the United States. This development will be inevitable if the EU doesn't upscale its common investments in green technologies, renewable energy and energy efficiency. 'The Danish presidency will work hard to ensure that these jobs are created here in the EU,' said Minister Wammen. The minister also stressed that there would be a focus on how globalisation, the increasing pressure on EU borders from migration, and international crime all affect Europe's safety. Denmark's presidency, their seventh since joining the European Community in 1973, follows the Polish presidency that also had a key focus on tapping sources of growth and exploring unused potentials of the single market. Other priorities were security in energy, defence, food issues and Europe's relations with third countries. On 1 July 2012, Denmark will in turn pass the baton on to Cyprus. Together, the three countries make up the latest presidency 'trio': the framework for connecting presidencies and ensuring presidency workflows are coherent and consistent with what has gone before and what will come after. Rather than replacing the individual national presidency agendas, the trio programme acts more like an overarching common framework. The rotating presidency started with the 1957 Treaty of Rome that established the European Communities; however, it quickly became apparent that six months was too short a timeframe for any one presidency to realise all its objectives. Thus the idea of grouping together three Member States who hold the presidency one after the other emerged. This allows each trio to coordinate a shared set of objectives to be met over the course of all three mandates. The set is made up of one large and two smaller Member States, as well as being a mix of Member States from the old and the enlarged Union. Minister Wammen also spoke of the Danish government's view on cohesion policy: 'European cohesion policy is a major and important subject for the Danish presidency. Cohesion policy must be modified, so that it can better contribute to creating jobs and growth in the whole of Europe. During our presidency we want to promote this agenda as much as possible.' Reform of other major flagship policy areas such as the Common Agricultural Policy and the Research and Development Programme will also be a key priority for the Danes. Along with cohesion policy, the amount of money spent on these areas has been agreed as part of the EU's seven-year multiannual financial framework programme. This constitutes the framework that sets the maximum amount of commitment appropriations in the EU budget each year for broad policy areas, and fixes an overall annual ceiling on payment and commitment appropriations. The Presidency Programme for the Danish Council presidency will be officially presented by Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt at the beginning of January.For more information, please visit: Danish presidency: http://eu2012.dk/en(opens in new window)
Countries
Denmark, Poland