Geopolitical tensions are running high as Denmark takes over the presidency of the Council of the European Union. Despite its small size, Denmark is a leading voice on various issues affecting Europe, and the presidency gives it a chance to promote its views.
It has been one of the largest contributors to Ukraine, donating €9 billion in military support and €867 million in civilian contributions. It has led discussions around tougher approaches to migration, chairing a series of pre-Council meetings with other member states pushing for the same. The country is also a leader in the green economy, with over 50% of its energy coming from wind power.
In an interview with The Parliament, Ambassador Carsten Grønbech-Jensen, the Permanent Representative of Denmark to the EU, discusses the country’s priorities and expectations as it steps into the presidency.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
This is your third time involved in Denmark’s presidency. How is it different now?
I was here for the presidencies in 2002 and in 2012. On both occasions, we knew in great detail what was going to happen during our presidency a couple of weeks in advance. This time we don't.
There are so many unpredictable factors that influence the agenda for the next six months that it is difficult to predict what will happen. There's a war in Europe; we don't know how that's going to end. There's a war in the Middle East as well.
Then we've got the tariffs that President Trump announced, which are suspended until 9 July — one week into the Danish presidency. We don't know yet whether we'll be in a position to make an agreement with the US or not. These things make it difficult to know exactly what will happen, even in the course of July.
What can Denmark do to push the ReArm Europe defence plan forward?
This is a very important priority for the European Council and for the Commission, so this is something we share. Our job is to find a way forward on the files that are on our table now, to see if we can forge compromises and get decisions on some of these questions which are quite urgent.
The European Council has decided to ramp up European defence decisively within the next five years. If we really want to do that, we need to get down to business. We need to decide what we want to achieve to be ready by 2030. I hope that as a presidency we will be able to advance talks on that question.
How will you approach MFF discussions now that Denmark has left the ‘frugal four’?
I think you need to distinguish between the work we will do as the presidency, and the national position on the MFF [Multiannual Financial Framework, the seven-year EU annual budget].
As a presidency, it's our job to advance negotiations on the MFF from the outset. We'll be getting the Commission proposal on 16 July. That will allow us to start discussions on the architecture of the new budget. I don't think we'll be getting into the numbers in the Danish presidency.
What the Danish prime minister said is that when it comes to the numbers, we will not do what we did last time around, which was to start negotiations by refusing certain options and insist that the budget cannot increase by refusing, for instance, common debt. Given the severity of the geopolitical challenges that we are facing, the Danish government will look at all options.
Are there specific defence files you want to prioritise?
We need to decide on what we want to do together and how we want to do it, before we get to the question of financing. Sometimes in the EU we start by discussing how to finance, before getting to the questions of what we actually want to finance. I think it's important to have that discussion first.
Where does Denmark want to take the competitiveness agenda?
I think, luckily, all member states agree on the diagnoses of [Mario] Draghi and [Enrico] Letta. There's a keen awareness of the challenges we're facing.
Much of the focus will be on simplification: on energy — how to make the internal market for energy work better, to lower energy prices and to continue the green transition — and on capital markets.
Those are complicated questions, but I think there will be important proposals coming our way and we'll do all we can to advance talks on those.
Could any EU candidate countries advance under your presidency?
There's a strong momentum for continuing enlargement. Right now, that is partly caused by geopolitics. Many of the candidates are doing a very good job pursuing reforms and delivering on our asks.
Ukraine has done a tremendous amount of work in a situation where they are at war. We would hope that we could advance talks with Ukraine, as well as with Moldova and those countries in the Western Balkans that have been making important progress.
It may be a bit complicated, but I'm sure that we will be able to advance talks.
How will Denmark approach migration policy with its opt-out?
I don't think the opt-out will play a role. As a presidency, we will do what's expected of us, to advance talks on the files on the table. That means that we will be working on the implementation of the Asylum and Migration Pact.
We'll also be advancing talks on the Return Directive, on the questions of safe third country lists and the safe third country concept. These are all things that I think are a priority for the Commission and member states.
It's important to say that there is a very broad consensus around the approach that Denmark has been proposing. Only three or four years ago you would see very different views on questions relating to migration. Over the last year or two, a consensus has emerged among member states. It is clearly not as divisive as it once was.
Do you have a plan B if Trump’s tariffs come into effect?
The Commission plays a very important role here. Commissioner [Maroš] Šefčovič is doing a great job talking to his counterparts in Washington. He's doing that on the basis of constant talks with member states and ministers.
We'll be talking to him and the Commission about how to proceed in the event that we do not find some sort of agreement.
Could trade tensions shift EU priorities more broadly?
Recent events have incentivised the European Union and many third countries to renew their efforts to find free trade agreements and diversified trade.
The EU has been negotiating a number of trade deals over the past years. I see new momentum on many of those trade talks, and new interest on both sides, just as I see a strong interest among most member states to get the Mercosur agreement concluded after many years of negotiation. Clearly, we need to diversify our trade relations.
How will you keep the green agenda alive?
The green transition has not gone out of fashion. There's a very strong link between the two main themes of the EU agenda today and the green transition.
The green transition will allow us to rid ourselves of the dependencies we've had in energy, of Russian fossil fuels, as well as fossil fuels from other parts of the world. So, it’s also a question of energy security.
The green transition is also part of the competitiveness agenda. Danish businesses have grown and increased their competitiveness through the green transition. It's part of the modernisation of our economy that adds to European competitiveness.
If you see the green transition in that light, as a means to increase energy security and as a path to increased European competitiveness, it's certainly not out of fashion.
What would success look like at the end of the presidency?
I hope that we will be able to help advance decisions on some of the files we've mentioned. I hope that we will be able to tackle the crises or challenges that will occur in the course of the presidency, and that are yet unknown, in a manner satisfactory to other member states.
Is the rotating presidency still effective?
I think that the institution of the rotating presidency of the Council is very important. It creates an ownership among member states whereby, once in a while, they take over responsibility. It gives member states an insight into the dynamics of the European decision-making processes, which is important, and I think we would be worse off without it.
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