On July 1, Denmark takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the eighth time. Under the motto ‘A Strong Europe in a Changing World’, the Danish Presidency said its programme of work will ensure that the EU takes responsibility for its own security, while also strengthening its competitiveness. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that priority will be given to boosting defence capabilities in Europe amid Russia's war in Ukraine and US threats to Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory. Pushing countries to keep promises to boost defence spending and bolstering Europe's "dangerous" security will top Denmark’s agenda as it takes over the rotating presidency on Tuesday, according to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
Denmark has been increasing military spending since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. "We want something with our presidency. Security is clearly defined as the top priority," Frederiksen said in an interview with the Politiken daily published on Sunday and quoted by France 24 and AFP. "We have a new NATO goal that has been adopted. For that to happen, we need to rearm Europe. Once the NATO goal is in place, most other things come down to EU policy," she said.
NATO members agreed last week to invest 3.5 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on core military spending and 1.5 percent on broader security-related areas such as infrastructure by 2035. Spain has called the goal "unreasonable" and asked for flexibility.
During its six month turn as EU president, Denmark wants to push ahead with EU plans presented in March to increase EU defence capabilities by simplifying procedures and offering countries loans to finance investment in Europe's defence industry. Europe's security situation is "unstable, and because it's unstable, it's dangerous", Frederiksen told Politiken. "If we look at the history of Europe, we know that conflicts tend to spread. There is so much tension today and that on its own can generate more tension," she added.
Denmark is one of Europe's biggest donors of aid to Ukraine. In power since 2019, Frederiksen has significantly increased Denmark's defence spending to more than three percent of GDP. Copenhagen has been a staunch US ally but has increasingly switched its focus to European security after US President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory.
In its programme for "A Secure Europe", the Danish EU presidency has also prioritised the fight against illegal migration, vowing to come up with "new and innovative solutions". Denmark's strict migration policies have spread across Europe, and the country hopes to build EU consensus on externalising asylum procedures outside Europe, and restricting the scope of rulings from the European Court of Human Rights.
"Irregular migration cannot be allowed to threaten European cohesion," Denmark said in its official EU presidency programme.
The Scandinavian country recently joined Italy and seven other nations to seek a reinterpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights to allow for changes to migration policy, arguing that the text sometimes protects "the wrong people".
The Danish presidency also said that further EU enlargement is a geopolitical necessity, and has pledged to advance enlargement negotiations with the Western Balkans, as well as Ukraine and Moldova.
"This is the only way for the EU to effectively contribute to the stabilisation of the European continent and to strengthening the resilience of countries vulnerable to unwanted external influence. The Danish Presidency will therefore work with ambition to promote a merit-based enlargement of the Union and to prepare the EU for enlargement through internal reforms. In this regard, the Danish Presidency will take forward the enlargement negotiations with Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans," the Danish Government stated.
“Enlargement is closely linked to efforts to uphold the EU’s fundamental values, democracy and the rule of law. Strengthening the EU’s resilience to face current and future crises will also be a central focus for the Presidency. To reinforce the EU’s competitiveness, the Presidency will focus on the simplification agenda and the need for better and simpler EU legislation. It will also work to strengthen and deepen the EU’s relationship with the United Kingdom and other non-EU Western European countries,” the Danish EU Presidency added in its statement.
