More Europe, please

By Nicolai Wammen

On Jan. 1, 2012, Denmark will assume the presidency of the European Union for the seventh time. The Danish presidency will commence at an unprecedented time for the EU. Europe finds itself in a severe economic crisis caused by too much public debt, inadequate growth, prevarication on structural reforms, high unemployment and weak competitiveness.

This untenable situation must be addressed swiftly and in a robust manner in order for the financial markets to have confidence in Europe. Needless to say, Europe’s economic crisis will constitute a difficult framework environment for Denmark’s EU presidency.

As a consequence, the Danish government will adopt a realistic and pragmatic approach to the presidency. Now is the time to steady the European project and to ensure that it remains operational and continues to deliver significant results for the roughly 500 million people living in the EU.

So what do we want to achieve? Implementation of a European semester, including better budget discipline, regulation of the financial sector and stronger economic surveillance of member states, will evidently be at the top of our agenda. Modernization of the single market will also be one of our key objectives. The European Commission has proposed a package of 12 initiatives aimed at creating a better business environment in Europe.

We need to bring the single market firmly into the digital age, and if an agreement on an efficient and user-friendly EU patent system has not already been reached by then, the Danish presidency will push hard to get such an agreement done next year. We will also work hard to strengthen Europe’s leadership in shaping a green agenda.

The Danish government wants the EU to do more in order to help European companies remain at the cutting edge internationally when it comes to developing green technologies and promoting energy efficiency. As a third major objective, we want to get tangible progress toward a deal on the future budget of the EU.

In the next multiannual financial framework for the EU will cover a seven-year period starting from 2013, we must obtain meaningful reform in key areas like a common agricultural policy and a cohesion policy as well as channel more money to areas that can help drive economic growth and create new jobs in Europe.

Areas like research, green technologies, energy efficiency and education. Finally, we will push hard for a more secure Europe ― internally as well as externally. Revision of the Schengen system and agreement on a European search warrant will be a key objective for us in this context.

Thus, the Danish government will pursue a realistic and yet ambitious agenda for the presidency from Jan. 1. More than ever before, the EU must deliver results and demonstrate its value to the daily lives of Europe’s citizens. In contrast to the prevailing mood in the media, the solution to the crisis is not going to be less Europe, but more Europe.

Nicolai Wammen is Danish minister for European affairs.