Denmark: we aim to help resolve the EU crisis

In an interview with CNA, Geelan said that her country may not be a Eurozone member, but is as concerned about the depth of the crisis in the Eurozone as the Euro members. The ambition of the Danish EU presidency is to help Europe to become economically sustainable, focusing on structural reforms, budget discipline and stronger regulation of the financial sector.

Referring to Turkey’s decision to freeze its relations with the EU, during the Cypriot EU Presidency, as Ankara does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus, Geelan recalled the conclusions of the latest European Council on this issue, noting that “we are part of these conclusions”.

Whether Turkey becomes a member of the EU depends on the EU member states as well as Turkey itself. The negotiations are currently at a standstill, but things can change, she points out. The Danish government supports the aim of Turkish membership and wants to keep the track open for negotiations and contribute to a positive dialog with Turkey, she said.

With regard to the Cyprus problem, the Danish Ambassador stressed that her country continues to support the ongoing direct negotiations under the auspices of the UN and continues to encourage the parties to engage constructively in finding a comprehensive solution as soon as possible to the benefit of both communities.

The Danish Ambassador also underlined the potential that the Danish EU-Presidency offers in terms of enhancing the general knowledge of Denmark in Cyprus. “I would welcome the possibility to share some of the experience that we have had and the knowledge gained with regards in particular to investing in energy efficiency, renewable energy, but perhaps also in areas of a social-economic nature,” she said.

Geelan said that the priorities that the Danish government has set for the EU Presidency are a responsible Europe, a dynamic Europe, a green Europe and a secure Europe.

She pointed out the fact that the current seven-year EU budget is roughly around a trillion euro and stressed that “our main focus it to try with that budget to confront the economic challenges and to make sure that a big chunk of this budget is channeled for the right policy areas to boost growth, jobs and innovation. The Danish EU-presidency hopes to contribute to making Europe more economically responsible. This implies a political willingness to implement and comply with new rules on economic governance. We see at the moment a Europe which is slowing down, we are losing competitiveness and we need to realize that this is really a crucial time for European cooperation, for European competitiveness.”

According to the Ambassador, the dynamics of Europe are threatened and “that is our concern. We want to strengthen the competitiveness of Europe, we want to make sure that we take full advantage of globalization and we want to deliver, during our Presidency, concrete results and make a significant contribution to bring the EU out of the current economic crisis. We want to strengthen the institutions, strengthen the collaboration and the mechanisms.”

She added that “the Danish Presidency also wishes to promote a green Europe and hopes to see a further greening of European economies and promoting green growth. If we want to preserve our prosperity and high living standards in the long term we must maintain our interconnected perspective and continue to reflect green perspectives in our policies.”

“And finally the Danish presidency will promote a safe Europe – both internally and externally. Recent events where the Schengen system came under pressure has been a reminder that we need to finalize the EU's common asylum system in order to ensure appropriate reception and treatment of asylum seekers throughout Europe and work for a stronger Schengen cooperation,” she added.

She noted that a safe Europe also means to support a stronger voice for the EU in global affairs. Only by speaking with one voice can the EU bring continuity and predictability into our relations with other nations, she said.

According to Geelan, the Danish government has decided to adopt a realistic and pragmatic approach vis-a-vis the Presidency. “We want to make sure the European project remains operational and we want to makes sure that it continues to deliver significant results for the 500 million people living in Europe. We need to bring the single market into the digital age and we want to strengthen Europe’s leadership in shaping a green agenda in order to create new opportunities for the more than 22 million unemployed people in the EU-countries,” she said.

She added that “we want to do more to help European companies remain at the cutting-edge, internationally, and we want to get tangible progress as regards the future budget of the EU. It would be lovely if we got an agreement during the Danish EU Presidency but the likelihood is that it will be after our EU Presidency that we get an agreement on the future European budget. So again we are taking a realistic approach.”

She said that “we must try and obtain meaningful reform in key areas like the Common Agriculture Policies, the Cohesion Policy, and we are firmly committed to channel EU-funds towards generating economic growth and create new jobs. So to sum it all up, the focus of the EU Presidency is on the financial situation, to improve the internal market and secure the competitiveness of Europe, greening of the economy and a secure and safer Europe and of course the latest experience that we have seen with increased refugees into Europe again raises the question how do we deal with increased refugees knocking on our doors, how do we continue to strengthen the Schengen cooperation of the EU.”

Asked about the Danish Presidency’s greening policy, Geelan said that she is talking about the environment, but also about energy efficiency and increased investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy. “I think it is quite clear that the European energy policy, one of the areas which is still fragmented and a difficult issue to deal with as EU 27. What we are saying is in order for us to secure a continuous growth we also have to increase our investments in green technologies, renewable energy and energy efficiency. We need to make sure that we are not letting ourselves open to market fluctuations. The more that we can rely on ourselves as energy producers is a very important aspect of a continuous growth and development of the EU,” she added.

Asked about Cyprus’ possible contribution to the EU energy sector, if drilling which is taking place in its EEZ shows that is has oil reserves, the Danish Ambassador said that this would be most welcome. “Obviously it could make a most welcome contribution to European energy security. It is not just a question of money. It is about investments for generations to come in terms of energy supplies and energy security I think is that where the focus should be,” she added.

Cyprus has signed an agreement to delineate the Exclusive Economic Zone with Egypt and Israel with a view to exploit any possible natural gas and oil reserves in its EEZ. A similar agreement has been signed with Lebanon but the Lebanese Parliament has not yet ratified it. Drilling has already begun and is being carried out by Houston-based “Noble Energy”, off Cyprus’ south-eastern coast.

Invited to comment on the fact that Denmark, a non-member of the Eurozone, is taking over the EU presidency during a time of financial crisis, the Ambassador stressed that Denmark may not be in the Euro “but we are as concerned about the depth of the crisis in the Eurozone as the Euro members and we will do our outmost during our Presidency to help pave the way for a solution to the crisis.”

Geelan noted that the Commission has circulated a first draft for a potential platform for negotiations taking up the following from the decisions that were taken at the most recent European Council and so far this seems to us to be a good basis for negotiations. “It would enable also non Euro members to become part of a future agreement. So we may not be in the Euro but for all purposes we will conduct our Presidency as if we were a full-fledged member,” she added.

Asked about the cooperation of her country with Cyprus, ahead of the 2012 presidency, Geelan recalled that the Trio countries, namely Poland, Denmark and Cyprus, began working on a joint platform at the beginning of 2009 and have been negotiating the joint platform and the Trio programme.

It will be the first EU Presidency for Cyprus whereas this is the 7th Danish Presidency of the European Council, she noted.

“So we have a little bit of experience but obviously this is not the first time that an EU-country takes over the EU Presidency for the first time. We have been very happy to meet specific requests from Cyprus in particularly areas of environmental issues,” Geelan said.

“But working together also means that help can go both ways. So Cyprus will also be helping Denmark in respect of some of the working groups on the Common Defence and Security Policy where Denmark has an opt-out. In addition we are working closely in the area of European development policy where obviously Denmark as a significant donor country has considerable experience and expertise,” she noted.

She stressed that “as far as we are concerned we are confident that Cyprus will manage to stir Europe throughout the Cypriot Presidency.”

The coming six months represent a golden opportunity to enhance the overall knowledge of Denmark in Cyprus, she said and added: “What I am more interested in is to share some of the experience that we have had and the knowledge gained with regards to investing in r energy efficiency, renewable energy, but also areas perhaps more of a social-economic nature as I now see the debate developing in Cyprus with regards to austerity measures that have been passed in parliament.”

She said that Denmark also has a considerable public sector and has quite an elaborate social fabric. “I would welcome the possibility of sharing some of our experiences – from developing appropriate care facilities for the elderly – to making the public service more efficient and effective,” she said.

Asked about statements on the part of Turkey that it will freeze its relations with the EU during the Cypriot EU Presidency, she noted that with the conclusions at the latest European Council the EU 27 countries have made their decision vis-a-vis Turkish statements vis-a-vis Cyprus very clear.

“I don’t think that I could add anything to the conclusions of the European Council and I have taken note of the comments by the Cypriot FM who expressed her satisfaction with the agreed conclusions,” she added.

She said that since 2009 there has been a broad majority in the Danish Parliament supporting the aim of Turkish EU membership. “But what we also say is that this requires that Turkey meets the requirements for membership. Obviously the membership of Turkey requires a consensus among all EU member states but our national position is that if Turkey meets the requirements for membership then they should also become a member. As a Presidency we have the obligation to listen to all the views of the Council and at the same time we find it important to try and keep the negotiations on track and to continue to contribute to a positive dialogue with Turkey,” she added.

Asked about the issue of EU enlargement, Geelan noted that Denmark has been a strong advocate of enlargement, adding that “it is one of the key pillars for Danish EU policy and for spreading peace, stability and prosperity in Europe.”

“At the same time we also need to be realistic and we need to take the EU’s ability to absorb new members into account, also in time of crisis. There is still a number of countries in Europe that we would welcome into the European family let me mention Serbia, the Former Republic of Macedonia, and we think it is very important that we as the EU keep that commitment. This is not saying that we are looking into lowering standards. Certain basic rules and principles commonly referred to as the EU acquis are prerequisites for joining the EU family,” Geelan stressed.

Asked about the EuroMediterranean cooperation in view of the Arab Spring and the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa states, the Danish Ambassador said that “it is quite clear that this is an area that we need to continue to prioritize. We – the EU – need to strengthen our relations with the new democracies around the Mediterranean.”

She said that her country has nationally a programme called the Arab initiative where for a number of years “we have worked very closely with NGOs and human rights groups in say Syria – Egypt, Marocco Jordan – to mention some, not to mention our extensive development programme in the Palestinian territories where we have been a key donor for a number of years.” She added that they also had the pleasure of working with Cyprus on specific projects.

“So I think it is an issue that has already been and will continue to be high on our agenda and we are very strong advocates for the EU27 to continue to stay engaged,” she said.

She added that her country was also part of the coalition in Libya and that during the discussions in the EU27 it has been a keen advocate for sanctions against the regime in Syria and its commitment will continue during the Danish EU Presidency.