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| Denmark Taking over EU Presidency during Most Serious Crisis |
| Bratislava, 12.01.2012 |
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| Denmark took over the EU Presidency on January 1 during one of the biggest and possibly the most severe crises in the history of the EU, said Danish Ambassador Anita Hugau at a press conference in Bratislava on Thursday during which she introduced the key points of the Danish EU Presidency.
Despite the unfavourable start point, Denmark will try to achieve the best possible results for Europe, Hugau promised. She pointed out that this is the seventh Danish Presidency, with the one in 2002 being the most successful. Hugau recalled that at the end of that Presidency, accession of ten new member states, including Slovakia, was approved and consequently accomplished in May 2004.
Hugau describes the financial and debt crisis in Europe as the biggest problem awaiting the Danish EU Presidency. In this connection, the Ambassador called on EU-member states to be more responsible.
The six months of the Presidency will also be a period when the EU's budget for 2014-2020 is to be decided. It should first of all become the driving force of EU's economic development.
In the economic sphere, Copenhagen wants to direct its attention to strengthening the single market and removing the administrative obstacles for small- and medium-sized enterprises. Creation of the joint energy infrastructure should be another priority of the Danes.
Harmonisation of the asylum system will also be approached by the Presidency vis-a-vis the fallout from the Arab Spring and the inflow of refugees from Africa to Europe it has evoked.
The ongoing accession process with Iceland, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey are to become one of the highlighted issues as well.
"The Danish EU Presidency represents a possibility for adoption of decisions which will pull the EU out of the crisis and will strengthen its unity. I'm convinced that this Presidency will be a success for Denmark, as well as for the whole of the European Union," said head of the European Commission Representation in Slovakia Dusan Chrenek (who was appointed to this post on January 1).
Cypriot Ambassador to Slovakia Marios Kountourides, whose country is to precede the EU in the second half of 2012, stated that social problems caused by the economic crisis should be approached and tackled initially.
TASR |
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