The Danish EU presidency comes at a difficult time for the bloc which is still faced with a eurozone crisis that threatens Europe’s economic recovery. Denmark’s Prime Minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, has made it clear that tackling this crisis is the number one priority of her country’s presidency.
Malta should not expect any progress to be made under this presidency on the concept of burden sharing in migration, something the Danes are not keen on- Anthony Manduca
Addressing the European Parliament last week, Thorning-Schmidt said the Danish presidency will aim at ensuring a responsible European economy, a more dynamic Europe, a green Europe and a safe Europe.
Despite her country having a reputation for being somewhat eurosceptic – or perhaps because of this – Thorning Schmidt made it clear that she was staunchly pro-European. “The path out of this crisis goes through more Europe, not less Europe,” she told MEPs.
Ever since the Lisbon Treaty came into effect – which created the posts of President of the European Council and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security – the rotating EU presidency has lost some of its importance. This, together with the fact that Denmark is a small non- member of the eurozone has raised some questions about just how effective the Danish presidency can be in tackling Europe’s economic crisis.
After all, when, during the last EU summit Thorning-Schmidt spoke about the importance of getting the EU’s new treaty approved by all 27 member states, French President Nicolas Sarkozy reportedly told her: “You’re an ‘out’, a small out, and you’re new. We don’t want to hear from you.”
However, Denmark has had a number of successful EU presidencies, including its last one, in 2002, which very effectively presided over the conclusion of accession negotiations with 10 candidate countries, including Malta, and which paved the way for Europe’s historic enlargement in 2004, a huge achievement.
Denmark’s non-membership of the single currency – it opted out of the euro in a 2000 referendum – might not necessarily mean that it cannot contribute to solving the present eurozone crisis. Of course, we can certainly expect Germany and France to continue playing the leading role in this matter but Thorning Schmidt has made it clear that she wants her EU presidency to act as a “bridge-builder” between euro and non-euro member states.
Denmark has every reason to want the eurozone crisis to be resolved and of all the non-eurozone states it would suffer the most from the breakup of the single currency. Its currency, the krone, is pegged to the euro and it copies interest rate moves coming out of the European Central Bank. Furthermore, Germany is its largest trading partner and three quarters of its imports and exports are from and to EU countries.
We can therefore expect Denmark to do whatever it can to ensure that the draft of the EU’s fiscal pact – which was agreed to in principle by 26 member states at last month’s EU summit – will be completed by the next summit on January 30, with a view to having it signed by the member states in March.
Denmark has also promised to work for a safe Europe, to step up efforts at combating terrorism and cross border crime and to estab-lish a well-functioning European Asylum System.
This is interesting considering that Denmark had also opted out of judicial and police co-operation, besides defence matters and the euro, when it renegotiated its support for the Maastricht Treaty, but it can cooperate on a bilateral basis. However, Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who only took office a few months ago, has made it clear she wants to scrap judicial and defence opt-outs.
The environment and the ‘greening’ of Europe are expected to be given a lot of importance under this presidency and Denmark has, in fact, vowed to make sustainability and resource efficiency priorities despite the eurozone crisis.
Environment Minister Ida Auken recently told the press: “It’s not enough to be focusing on the financial crisis right now, and then not look at just as important or just as severe a crisis – namely the environmental crisis.”
Denmark certainly has impeccable green credentials, and towards the end of its presidency in June it will lead the EU at the UN Conference for Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, which is expected to strengthen the bloc’s green stand. The fact that the EU’s Climate Action Commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, is also Danish, and who will also be at the Rio conference, will help Europe speak with one voice.
Of particular importance for Malta, as well as for some other member states, will be the talks during the Danish presidency on an agreement for the EU’s next Budget, covering the period 2014 to 2020.
While Malta was given €1 billion in funds for the period 2007-2013, it will have to fight hard to be given the same amount of funding for the next period, and will have to lobby the Danish government very strongly over the next few weeks.
Malta can also have its mind at rest that a financial transaction tax is unlikely to be introduced during the Danish EU presidency, as Copenhagen opposes such a tax unless it is applied on a global level, which is the same position adopted by Malta, Britain and Sweden.
At the same time, however, Malta should not expect any progress to be made under this presidency on the concept of burden sharing in migration, something the Danes are not keen on.
In foreign policy, the most pressing issue during this presidency seems to be dealing with Iran, with Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt saying recently that she wants to see an EU oil embargo on Iran in place by the end of this month.
This should certainly increase tensions between the EU and Teheran, but Brussels is certainly doing the right thing.
Fr Peter’s column is not appearing this week.